Suicide bomber kills 61 in queue for Iraq army jobs
A suicide bomber sat for hours among hundreds of unprotected army recruits yesterday before detonating nail-packed explosives strapped to his body, killing 61 people and casting new doubt on the ability of Iraqi forces as US troops head home.
Bodies of bloodied young men, some still clutching job applications in their hands, were scattered on the ground outside the military headquarters in central Baghdad.
Though Iraq's military and police recruiting centres have been attacked repeatedly, there was virtually no security provided for the hundreds of men seeking to hand in applications on the last day of a nine-day recruitment drive.
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Hide AdYesterday's attack was one of the bloodiest bombings in months in the city and was an embarrassment for Iraq's military trying to reassure the nation it can fill the gap left by the departing US military.
By the end of this month, the US will have just 50,000 troops there in limited operations.