Bomber targets Iraqi army recruits, kills 59

BAGHDAD (AFP) - A suicide bomber blew himself up at a crowded army recruitment centre in Baghdad killing 59 people Tuesday, officials said, as violence coinciding with the holy month of Ramazan raged across Iraq. The attack, the deadliest this year, wounded at least another 100 people and came a day after Iraqs two main political parties suspended talks over the formation of a new government five months on from elections, and as the US withdraws thousands of its soldiers from the country. We have received 59 corpses this morning, an official at Baghdad morgue said, speaking on condition of anonymity. A doctor at Medical City hospital, close to the scene of the attack, said they had so far received 125 wounded. The bomber blew himself up around 7:30 am (0430 GMT) at the centre, a former ministry of defence building that now houses a local security command, in the Baab al-Muatham neighbourhood of central Baghdad. An interior ministry official said the majority of the victims were army recruits but that some soldiers who were protecting the recruitment centre compound were also among the casualties. After the explosion, everyone ran away, and the soldiers fired into the air, said 19-year-old Ahmed Kadhim, one of the recruits at the centre who escaped unharmed from the attack. I saw dozens of people lying on the ground, some of them were on fire. Others were running with blood pouring out. Kadhim said the recruits had been divided into groups based on their educational qualifications, with the suicide bomber targeting the selection of high school graduates. I dont know how he managed to get through all the security measures, he added, referring to two searches that each recruit had to pass before being allowed in the area. Maybe he hid in the area from last night. Iraqi security forces cordoned off the area following the attack, and security was stepped up across the capital, leading to traffic gridlock during the morning rush hour. In Baghdad and Diyala province, meanwhile, insurgents attacked eight judges with bombs and silenced weapons, killing two of them, a source in the Justice Ministry said. These attacks are well orchestrated, the source said. They are targeting the entire judicial system of the country.

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