More than 50 killed in attacks on Iraqi police

Iraqi police suffered two mortal blows today when a car bomb blew up recruits in the centre of Baghdad, killing at least 47, injuring 114, and an ambush north of the capital left 11 officers and their driver dead.

In the first attack, a bomb in a Toyota car ripped through shops and cafes near a police station as dozens of Iraqis were applying to join the force.

The blast left a gaping 10 foot crater outside the station at the end of Haifa street, a main Baghdad thoroughfare that has been the scene recently of fierce clashes.

Nearby shops and buildings were badly damaged and a dozen cars parked nearby were completely wrecked.

Paramedics and residents picked up body parts scattered across the street and put them into boxes. Anguished men lifted charred bodies and lay them gently on stretchers. Helicopters circled.

Health Ministry spokesman Saad Al-Amili said at least 47 people were killed and 114 wounded.

Interior Ministry spokesman Colonel Adnan Abdel-Rahman said the bomb was placed inside a Toyota vehicle parked near the commercial hub, located a short distance down the road from the police station, which had been closed to traffic.

An Interior Ministry official had earlier said the attack was caused by a suicide bomber.

North-east of the capital, in the town of Baqouba, gunmen in two cars ambushed a minibus taking policemen back to their station, killing 11 officers and a civilian

The attack was launched after the policemen had been told that a trip to a training camp had been postponed, said an officer,

Eleven policemen were killed as well as the civilian driver, said Qaisar Hamid of Baqouba General Hospital.

Two others were wounded he said.

More than 60 people were killed in the town in July when a car bomb exploded outside a police recruiting centre.

In Baghdad today, angry crowds near the site of the blast denounced US forces and interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi’s government for failing to protect police recruiting centres.

“Such places were targeted before,” said Ali Abul-Amir, who was among those trying to join the force but had gone around the corner to buy a drink when the explosion went off.

“I blame Ayad Allawi’s government for what happened because they did not take the necessary security measures,” he said.

Pumping their firsts in the air, the crowds also condemned President George Bush.

“Bush is a dog,” they chanted.

Attacks on Iraqi security forces and police officers – whom the militants denounce as “collaborators” – have left hundreds of people dead since insurgents began a 17 month campaign to expel US led forces and destabilise Allawi’s government.

Militants have specifically targeted recruiting centres to disrupt efforts to build a strong Iraqi police force capable of taking over security in many towns and cities ahead of nationwide elections slated for January.

Earlier this month, a suicide attacker detonated a car bomb outside a police academy in the northern city of Kirkuk as hundreds of trainees and civilians were leaving for the day, killing at least 20 people and wounding 36.

In July, a car bomb exploded outside a police recruiting centre in the eastern city of Baqouba, killing at least 68 people. A month earlier, a 4X4 vehicle packed with artillery shells slammed into a crowd waiting to volunteer for the Iraqi military in Baghdad, killing 35.

In February, a suicide attacker targeted another army recruiting centre in Baghdad, killing 47. Days earlier 53 people were killed in a similar attack south of the capital.

Today’s bombing came two days after insurgents hammered central Baghdad with one of their most intense mortar and rocket barrages ever in the heart of the capital, heralding a day of attacks and killings that left at least 37 people dead.

Meanwhile, two American soldiers were killed and three others wounded on Monday when they came under attack in Baghdad, the military said today.

More than 1,000 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq since the start of military operations in March 2003.