Iraq bomb killing 125 targets police recruits

IRAQ: Iraqi insurgents mounted the bloodiest single attack since the fall of Saddam Hussein yesterday, killing at least 125 …

IRAQ: Iraqi insurgents mounted the bloodiest single attack since the fall of Saddam Hussein yesterday, killing at least 125 people when a suicide bomber drove a car at a queue of men waiting to take medical tests to join the Iraqi army and police.

Another 130 were wounded in the blast in the town of Hilla, about 100 kilometres southeast of Baghdad.

The explosion vaporised the car and hurled shrapnel into the would-be recruits outside the clinic as well as traders and shoppers at a nearby market.

Iraqi politicians had hoped that last month's elections would weaken the insurgency, but though there has been a slight decline in the rate of shootings and bombings, yesterday's attack underlined the ability of the militants to strike.

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As in previous blasts, they targeted those hoping to join Iraq's security forces, which are struggling to reach the strength required to take over national policing from multinational forces.

In Hilla, one witness, Zeyd Shamran, said he saw the car moments before it exploded. "There were two people in it and when it stopped one man got out, shook hands and kissed the other man."

The explosion left a gaping hole in the ground and the streets were littered with body parts and pools of blood.

Political parties in Baghdad condemned the bomb and continued talks over forming a new government, which they said would make security a priority with a stronger, more professional force.

Hilla is a largely Shia town but it is close to three mainly Sunni towns, which have become hotbeds of resistance.

Although no one took responsibility for yesterday's blast, some groups have been trying to foment sectarian conflict and even civil war.

Police and security force recruits have been repeatedly targeted, regardless of sectarian loyalty. Two attacks killed 100 in 24 hours last February. The promise of a $200 monthly salary and the absence of alternative employment keep recruitment centres swamped.

Razor wire, concrete blocks and security checks have made police and army bases more difficult to bomb so insurgents, a disparate mixture of nationalists, Islamic radicals, and loyalists from Saddam's Baathist regime, have increasingly hit softer targets.

Maximising casualties is a way of destabilising the state and discrediting the US-backed government as ineffectual. Most suicide bombers are thought to be from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan and other Arab countries.

Firefighters sprayed hoses at blackened bodies, while others dug through rubble for remains which were loaded on to wooden carts and police pick-up trucks.

A convoy of police and civilian cars ferried the wounded to hospital while an angry, shocked crowd milled at the bloody scene.

The police headquarters in Babil province issued a statement saying several people were arrested in connection with the blast and that others were being hunted.

British prime minister Tony Blair said British forces would help to find them. "All civilised people should feel nothing but revulsion for the terrorists who can kill innocent Iraqis who only want to help build a new democracy and a better society," he said in a statement.

About 400 people, mostly young men, had gathered outside the single-storey clinic to obtain medical certificates.

"I was waiting for my turn for the medical exam in order to apply for work in the police," Abdullah Salih (22) said. "Suddenly I heard a very big explosion. I was thrown several metres away and I had burns on my legs and hands, then I was taken to the hospital."

Muhsin Hadi (29), whose leg was broken in the blast, said he was lucky to have been the last in line when the bomb exploded.

"Suddenly there was panic and many frightened people stepped on me. I lost consciousness and the next thing I was aware of was being in the hospital."

At least four people died in separate attacks yesterday, including one US soldier. - (Guardian service)