Suicide bomber kills 42 in Baghdad at Commando Site#1

by Ammar Karim 3 minutes ago
BAGHDAD (AFP) - Two suicide bombers have targeted a key police commando base in western Baghdad, killing 35 young men waiting to join the force, as other bombs also exploded in and around the Iraqi capital.

The pair blew themselves up as potential recruits gathered at the Iraqi National Police base in Qadissiyah neighbourhood, according to security officials who said the toll was expected to rise.
At least 60 more were wounded in the morning attack Sunday.
Insurgents regularly target fledgling security forces, often bombing recruitment drives as the government and US forces continue trying to boost their capability.
By QAIS AL-BASHIR, Associated Press Writer 11 minutes ago
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a police recruiting center in Baghdad early Sunday, killing at least 33 people and wounding 56, police said.

Crowds of recruits were gathering outside the center in western Baghdad's Nissur Square when the bomber detonated explosives strapped to his body, police Lt. Maitham Abdul-Razaq said.
He said the death toll was expected to rise because many of the injuries were extremely serious.
The attack was one of several on Sunday in the capital, where sectarian violence kills scores each week. Just south of the city, police were searching for gunmen who killed 10 Shiite travelers and kidnapped about 50 others Saturday night along a notoriously dangerous stretch of highway.
Reuters news agency reports that mortar rounds were fired at the police recruiting centre, in the Qadissiya neighbourhood, shortly after the bombers struck.
انفجار مفخخة قرب مركز للتجنيد وسقوط العشرات ( اضافة اولى )بغداد - واع - امن - اراس الناصريالحاقا بخبرنا ( انفجار مفخخة قرب مركز للتجنيد وسقوط العشرات ) , لازالت سيارات الاسعاف تحاول نقل عشرات الجرحى لمستشفى اليرموك القريب من محل انفجار المفخخة ( مركز للتجنيد قرب ساحة النسور ) .هذا وتفيد التقارير الاولى ان سبب الانفجار تفجير يرتدي حزاما ناسفا نفسه داخل مركز للتطوع تابع لمغاوير الداخلية وان اعداد كبيرة من الراغبين بالتطوع على الداخلية ومنتسبي الداخلية قد سقطوا .مصادر وزارة الداخلية تؤكد ان الحادث يوصف بانه من اكبر الحوادث
تفجير مركز تجنيد ساحة النسور ... متابعةبغداد - واع - امن - من اراس الناصريتضاربت الاخبار عن سبب حادث تفجير مركز التجنيد في ساحة النسور بالقادسية , حيث تشير المصادر الامنية ان السبب هو احتمال تفجير ( 2 ) من الانتحاريين نفسيهما بواسطة الحزامين الناسفين وسط حشود المتطوعين .ولكن مصادر اخرى رجحت ان يكون سبب الانفجار هو سقوط قنابر هاون على المركز .ومهما يكون السبب فان الحصيلة ارتفعت الان الى ( 33 ) قتيلا وعشرات الجرحى .وعلى صعيد متصل اكد مصادر الداخلية انفجار عبوتين ناسفتين على دوريتين للشرطة العراقية على طريق محمد القاسم السريع شرقي بغداد ادى لاصابة اربعة من منتسبي الدورتين مع اغلاق المنطقة من قبل الجهات الامنية .
Blasts Kill Dozens of Iraqi Police Recruits
Maliki to Reshuffle Cabinet
By Sudarsan RaghavanWashington Post Foreign ServiceMonday, November 13, 2006; Page A01
BAGHDAD, Nov. 12 -- Two suicide bombers detonated explosives Sunday as a crowd of men gathered in front of a police recruiting center in central Baghdad, killing at least 35 people and wounding 56 in one of the deadliest suicide attacks in Iraq this year.
The blasts, coming hours before Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced plans for a major cabinet shake-up, delivered the latest blow to U.S. and Iraqi efforts to strengthen the country's fledgling security forces. Such efforts are a key element of the U.S. strategy to draw down troop strength and contain the sectarian violence that is pushing the country toward civil war.

Nov. 12 -- Two suicide bombers detonated explosives Sunday as a crowd of men gathered in front of a police recruiting center in central Baghdad, killing at least 35 people and wounding 56 in one of the deadliest suicide attacks in Iraq this year.At Baghdad's Yarmouk Hospital, young men with bandaged limbs lay in small beds, writhing in pain. Some said they had come from as far away as the southern city of Basra to join the police force because they were unemployed and needed to feed their families.
"We were all sitting down waiting for instructions from the loudspeaker. Suddenly, there was a huge amount of fire and dust," said Ali Mutashir, 35, limping slowly across the cream-colored floor, his tan shirt splattered with dried blood. "We fled toward a side street. Then came another blast of fire. It threw me against a wall."
The bombers detonated explosives belts almost simultaneously around 9:30 a.m., Interior Ministry officials said. Some witnesses said two mortar shells fell minutes after the bombings, as they were fleeing the scene.
The officials said they expected the death toll to rise because many of the wounded were in critical condition. As of late Sunday, there were differing accounts of the toll, with one Interior Ministry official saying that as many as 42 people had been killed.
The attack comes as the Bush administration and the Iraqi government prepare for a shift in U.S. policy in Iraq in the wake of the Democratic takeover of both houses of Congress in elections last week. U.S. military commanders and the Iraq Study Group, headed by former secretary of state James A. Baker III and Lee H. Hamilton, a former congressman, plan to recommend alternative ways of dealing with Iraq as pressure mounts to withdraw U.S. troops.
Faced with his own pressures, Maliki called for a sweeping reorganization of his cabinet in a closed session with Iraqi lawmakers Sunday, echoing a similar statement he made earlier this month. His office said in a statement that Maliki had "called for a complete ministerial reshuffle in accordance with the current situation," but it provided no details of the shake-up, which had been rumored for weeks.
Maliki's six-month-old government is under pressure from the United States, its main patron, to stop sectarian strife, disarm militias that have infiltrated government ministries and root out widespread graft by government officials. The prime minister also faces growing criticism from Iraqis frustrated with the government's failure to provide basic services, employment and security.
Maliki's efforts have so far been ineffective, as he struggles to balance the needs of his diverse political allies inside the government -- some of whom operate the militias he is trying to disband -- against the demands of a politically weakened Bush administration.
On Sunday, Maliki had in effect acknowledged that his government was weak, said Hasan Suneid, a lawmaker and close aide of the prime minister's. Maliki told lawmakers in the closed session that he had been forced to accept ministers chosen by political blocs and that some were incompetent, said Suneid, who attended the meeting. Maliki asked the blocs to nominate new people for his cabinet, based more on their qualifications than on their political loyalties.
"From the first day, Maliki knew that his cabinet is not in a shape that can face all the challenges of the country," Suneid said. "But now he's seeing he cannot keep silent about some ministries. A new cabinet needs to rise. . . . Personally, I am expecting a reshuffling of more than half the cabinet."
Sunday's bombing was the bloodiest assault on a police recruitment center since January, when a suicide bomber killed 70 police recruits in the western city of Ramadi. Sunni Arab insurgents frequently target police, to deter recruitment and also because national police are widely believed to be infiltrated by Shiite militias keen on protecting the interests of their sect.
Less than a half-hour after the suicide attacks, two bombs targeting a national police patrol exploded on a main artery in central Baghdad, killing three policemen and wounding five others. The blasts also killed two civilians and wounded seven, said Col. Kareem Hamza, an Interior Ministry official. On Saturday, policemen were attacked in the cities of Baqubah and Kirkuk.
Nov. 12 -- Two suicide bombers detonated explosives Sunday as a crowd of men gathered in front of a police recruiting center in central Baghdad, killing at least 35 people and wounding 56 in one of the deadliest suicide attacks in Iraq this year.','Sudarsan Raghavan
Brig. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said the recruits killed or injured Sunday would "receive all the salaries and rights of any other employee at the Ministry of Interior."
In other violence, the U.S. military announced the combat-related deaths of three U.S. soldiers in Anbar province, bringing to 27 the number of American troops killed this month.
At least 50 bodies were found behind a regional electrical company in Baqubah and 25 others in Baghdad, the Associated Press reported.
A car bomb killed one civilian and wounded four in the central Karrada district of the capital, and a roadside bomb wounded four in the Radwaniyah district of southwestern Baghdad, Khalaf said.
At Yarmouk Hospital, Mutashir, the wounded recruit, said three of his relatives, also police recruits, had been killed in the bombing. One was burned so badly that his corpse could be identified only by a scar on his leg.
Two of his cousins were seriously wounded, including Ali Jumat, 23, who was lying in a bed. His body was peppered with pink shrapnel splotches. His hair was singed brown from the explosion's flames. His eyes were deep red.
When asked why he wanted to become a policeman, Jumat appeared to be in even more pain. "I am the only supporter of my family," he replied, before closing his eyes.