TIKRIT, Iraq, (Reuters) – A suicide bomber wearing a vest packed with explosives and ball bearings attacked Iraqi police recruits yesterday in former dictator Saddam Hussein’s hometown, killing at least 45 and wounding over 100, officials said.
Ahmed Abdul-Jabbar, deputy governor of Salahuddin province, said the attack took place outside a police recruiting centre in Tikrit where Iraqi men were lining up hoping to get a job. “Who else would it be but al Qaeda, who keep on slaughtering us,” said Abdul-Jabbar.
“They are the terrorists.” Abdul-Jabbar and Raed Ibrahim, head of the provincial health department, said 45 people were killed while a police spokesman put the death toll at 50. More than 100 people were wounded.
The attack was the bloodiest in Iraq since Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki won support in December for his reappointment, ending a nine-month stalemate that followed a March election.
