Another suicide bombing kills at least 36 police

By Joelle Bassoul in Baghdad
December 07, 2005

Al-Qaeda in Iraq has admitted responsibility for a suicide bombing at Baghdad's police academy overnight, which killed at least 36 officers and students.

"Two brothers targeted the police academy that continues to train dogs which feed off the blood and honour of Sunni Muslims," according to an internet statement by al-Qaeda in Iraq. It could not be immediately authenticated.

"The two brothers, may God accept them as martyrs, succeeded in penetrating security cordons surrounding the building ... the strength of the explosion destroyed a large part of the building," it said.

The massive blast - on the same day that eight other Iraqi security personnel were killed in violence across the country - raised concerns about security just nine days before the country goes to the polls.

The US military initially said that two females, each wearing a suicide vest, walked into a classroom at the academy and blew themselves up surrounded by students, but later said the bombers were in fact men.

"Early reports which indicated the bombers walked into a classroom proved to be erroneous," the military said.

One of the bombers blew himself up near a group of students outside a classroom, causing police and students to flee to a bunker for shelter where the second bomber detonated his vest, the source said.

It was unclear how the bombers managed to breach the massive security in place around the Baghdad police academy in a zone controlled by the US military in the volatile Iraqi capital.

Police said that at least 36 officers and students were killed, with 72 other people injured. Among those hurt was a US contractor, the US military said.

It was the deadliest blast against Iraqi security forces in weeks and comes amid a spike in foreign kidnappings.

Also, the Islamic Army in Iraq claimed the kidnapping of an American who they said they would kill in 48 hours unless all prisoners are released in Iraq, Al Jazeera said.

The Qatar-based satellite television showed a videotape of a blond man with his arms behind his back seated on a white plastic chair, and the cover of a US passport and a bank account card with the name Ronald Schulz.

Al Jazeera said the Sunni Arab extremist group, which has claimed several kidnappings and murders, reported the hostage was a security adviser to Iraq's housing and construction ministry

They threatened to kill him within 48 hours unless all prisoners are released and compensation is paid to the restive Sunni province of Al-Anbar that has rocked by several US offensives against insurgents.

South of Baghdad, police uncovered nine bodies of civilians shot dead near a Shiite town, as 11 Iraqis, eight of them from the security services, died in other shootings and ambushes.

The insurgency that continues to plague Iraq more than two years since the US-led invasion to oust Saddam has frequently targeted security forces in a bid to derail efforts to restore a semblance of security.

Government officials have repeatedly warned against the danger of a premature withdrawal of the tens of thousands of foreign troops in the country.

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Female bombers kill 27 Iraqi policemen