BAGHDAD: A suicide bomber wearing a vest filled with explosives attacked a crowd of Iraqi police recruits on Tuesday in former dictator Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit, killing at least 14, a provincial official said.
Ahmed Abdul-Jabbar, deputy governor of Salahuddin province, said he did not know how many people were wounded in the attack, which took place outside a police recruiting centre where Iraqi men were lining up with their documents, hoping to get a job.
“The initial death toll we have now is 14 people killed,” Abdul-Jabbar said by telephone.
A police source in the city, 150 km north of Baghdad, said 15 people were killed and more than 30 wounded. A police spokesman said more than 300 people were standing in line at the time of the attack.
Overall violence in Iraq has fallen sharply since the peak in 2006/07 of the sectarian slaughter, triggered after the 2003 US-led invasion. But shootings and bombings remain a daily occurrence.
Salahuddin province, home to Saddam’s family, continues to suffer frequent attacks by suspected Sunni insurgents opposed to the Shia-led authorities in Baghdad. Tikrit is primarily Sunni.
Insurgents have stepped up their attacks on Iraqi police and troops since US forces formally ended combat operations last August ahead of a full withdrawal this year
