Suicide Bomber Kills Dozens in Attack on Iraqi Army Recruits

Suicide Bomber Kills Dozens in Attack on Iraqi Army Recruits
By STEPHEN FARRELL
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: August 17, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/18/world/middleeast/18iraq.html?hp


BAGHDAD — A suicide bomber struck early on Tuesday at an army recruiting office here, killing dozens in the first major bombing of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan — a period made more fraught than in previous years by the looming deadline for American forces to replace their combat mission here with a training role.

Iraqi soldiers at the scene of the attack said only that dozens of civilians and security force personnel were caught in the explosion near the Bab al-Muadham, on the east side of the Tigris River near the former headquarters of the Ministry of Defense. Soldiers said they had pulled 40 bodies from the debris, and an official from the Ministry of Interior later said that the toll so far was 48 dead and 129 wounded.

Ramadan, when Muslims fast from dawn to dusk, forgoing water, food and cigarettes, has in recent years brought an escalation of insurgent attacks in Iraq.

But this year has particular significance as Ramadan coincides with the weeks leading to the American military’s Aug. 31 deadline to reduce its troop numbers in Iraq to 50,000, shifting from combat operations to a mission designed principally to train and assist Iraqi security forces.

That number is down from the peak of more than 160,000 during the buildup of American soldiers here in 2007.

Both Ramadan and the American deadline, thus, were likely to provide impetus for attacks by insurgents seeking to exploit the persistent uncertainty surrounding Iraq’s political affairs and security situation seven years after the American-led invasion of 2003.

Firefighters sped to the scene Tuesday, where some soldiers said that the bomber had caught them by surprise. The attack was the bloodiest single assault since July 18, when a suicide bomber attacked among former insurgents who had switched sides to fight alongside American forces. More than 40 people were killed as the former insurgents lined up outside an Iraqi Army base to receive their paychecks.

Outside a blue-domed mosque near the scene of the attack on Tuesday, Sgt. Muhammad Hassan, 28, said the latest bomber had clearly intended to attack the Army recruits. With his uniform stained by blood from the victims he had dragged away, Sergeant Hassan said: “I was here from the early morning. We searched everybody. One exploded himself among a group of soldiers and recruits.”

He added: “The recruiting has been going on for at least a week, and this was the last day. We were not expecting it because it was the final day.”

Pvt. Younes Ali, 24, said that the bomber timed the explosion just as an Iraqi Army brigadier in charge of recruiting arrived to take the identification papers of the would-be recruits.

“All the recruits were sitting on the ground,” Private Ali said. “When the brigadier arrived they were ordered to stand up. Immediately after that, the bomber exploded himself.”

Private Ali said he had seen the body of the bomber, who was a brown-haired man with green eyes in his mid-20s. Half his body was blown away. Three hours after the explosion, he said, part of the area was still sealed off because two sticks of explosives had apparently failed to explode. The attack was the latest in a series of shootings and bombings, as insurgents seek to take advantage of the Iraqis’ failure, after five months, to form a national government, and to test Iraqi forces ahead of the American deadline, now just two weeks away.

Zaid Ali, 20, one of the would-be recruits lined up outside the former Defense Ministry building, said he had come every day during recruiting to get a job with the Iraqi Army and that security forces had on previous days checked people for their identity cards and papers at 6 a.m. On Tuesday, however, they asked to see papers around 7:30 am, he said. His account suggested that the delay in collecting identity papers had allowed a larger crowd to gather, offering the bomber more potential targets.

Hussein Kamel, 21, another would-be recruit, said he had slept overnight outside the recruiting center.

“I was sleeping on a piece of grass nearby and at 7:30 a.m.,” Mr. Kamel said. “There was a young long-haired green-eyed man who came down the street. He joined us in the line. When the military police came and asked for identity papers, he blew himself up immediately after they asked him.”

Mr. Kamel said there was confusion after the explosion. He said the security forces took cover behind walls and began shooting, endangering the rest of the recruits.

Jobs in the Iraqi military are highly prized in a faltering economy where work is scarce. Recruits can earn over $500 a month, and there have been reports of people offering bribes to get into the security forces.

Mr. Ali, the would-be recruit, said, for example, that minutes before the explosion on Tuesday, a group of 10 tribal sheiks arrived at the former ministry accompanied by about 50 of what appeared to be their own followers who were ushered inside the building, even though others had been waiting for days.

Khalid D. Ali contributed reporting