A man strapped with explosives blew himself up Sunday at an Iraqi military recruiting center in Baghdad, one of a series of suicide attacks that killed at least 48 people and ended a relative lull in violence in recent days. The deadliest bombing hit the army recruiting center at Muthana airfield in central Baghdad when a man dressed in civilian clothes detonated two explosive-laden belts among a crowd of recruits, killing 25 others and wounding nearly 50, U.S. and hospital officials said. Most of the dead were believed to have been recruits.
Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility in a Web posting, but the statement's authenticity could not be verified. In February, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the same garrison, killing 21 people. Sunday's Baghdad bombing was the deadliest since July 2, when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a recruiting center in west Baghdad's Yarmouk neighborhood, killing 20. |