Bomber strikes Iraq army centre

At least 45 people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack at an army recruitment centre in the Iraqi capital. Iraqi officials said at least 121 other people were wounded in the blast on Tuesday, when a suicide attacker detonated a bomb as men queued outside the centre in central Baghdad.

The attack occurred at the historical site of former defence ministry, a building that was turned into an army recruitment centre and military base after the 2003 US-led invasion.
Al Jazeera’s Omar Al Saleh, reporting from Baghdad, said the centre was busy on Tuesday because the defence ministry had recently called on new recruits to join the army.
“According to a police source they were standing in the hundreds,” he said.
“Then a suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt [and] wearing an army uniform was talking to those recruits, pretending that he was trying to get their names, so people gathered around him and he detonated his charge.
“This is the deadliest attack since the start of [the Muslim holy month of] Ramadan, and the deadliest perhaps in the last month or so.”

Target of attacks

Security forces have been frequent targets of attack since the start of army restructure after the US-led invasion.
Tuesday’s attack comes two weeks ahead of a US deadline to cut its troop numbers to about 50,000 and a day after Iraqi lawmakers suspended talks on forming a new government.
The Iraqiya bloc headed by Iyad Allawi, Iraq’s former prime minister, said on Monday that it had suspended talks with the State of Law bloc headed by Nouri al-Maliki, the country’s incumbent prime minister, in protest against al-Maliki’s “sectarian tone”. Our correspondent said different armed groups appear to be trying to take advantage of the power vacuum in Iraq, as lawmakers squabble over positions in a new government more than five months after an inconclusive March 7 election.
“Everyone you speak to here is concerned that attacks could get more frequent because of the US withdrawal plans and months of political uncertainty in Iraq,” he said.

Source: Al Jazeera and agencies