25 dead as car bomb targets army recruits

A car bomb exploded today outside an army recruiting centre in central Baghdad where dozens of Iraqis were lining up to volunteer for the military, killing around 25 people, the US command said.

It was the second deadly attack in two days on Iraqis working with the US-led coalition.

The blast took place at about 7.40am local time in a neighbourhood less than a mile from the green zone, the high-security area where US administrators are based, a coalition spokesman said. US troops closed off the area.

The explosion came a day after a suicide bomber detonated a truckload of explosives outside a police station in a town 30 miles south of Baghdad, killing up to 53 people and wounding scores – including would-be Iraqi recruits applying for jobs as police.

More than 100 Iraqis were lined-up outside the recruiting centre to join the military when the car blew up, said would-be volunteer Hussein Raad, who was wounded in the attack.

“We saw a car approaching. We were chatting together and suddenly felt the explosion. The blast threw me a few yards away,” said Raad, 20, who was taken to Yarmouk hospital with shrapnel wounds to his legs.

Officials at Yarmouk said they had received eight wounded and that others were taken elsewhere.

The total number of wounded was not known, the coalition spokesman said.

Today’s blast was at least the ninth vehicle bombing in Iraq this year and followed warnings from occupation officials that insurgents would step up attacks against Iraqis who work with the coalition, especially ahead of the planned June 30 transfer of sovereignty to a provisional Iraqi government.

US forces have been preparing the Iraqi police and military to take a larger role in battling the anti-US uprising that has been blamed on supporters of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and foreign Islamic militants.

Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday that attacks on Iraqi security personnel had not deterred more from wanting to join.

“We find people are still lining up, volunteering, interested in participating and serving,” Rumsfeld told reporters in Washington.

Yesterday’s suicide bombing in the town of Iskandariyah reduced parts of the police station to rubble and damaged nearby buildings.

The street in front of the station was littered with the wreckage of shattered vehicles as well as pieces of glass, bricks, mangled steel and pieces of clothing. No US or other coalition forces were hurt, said Lt Col Dan Williams, a military spokesman in Baghdad.

“It was the day for applying for new recruits,” said policeman Wissam Abdul-Karim, who was thrown to the ground by the blast. “There were dozens of them waiting outside the police station.”

The blast in Iskandariyah, a predominantly Shiite Muslim city, followed the disclosure on Monday of a letter from an anti-American operative to al-Qaida’s leadership asking for help in launching attacks against the Shiites to undermine the US-run coalition and the future Iraqi government.

Rumsfeld said the attack appeared generally in line with plans outlined in the letter.