Baghdad suicide bombings kill 43
Foreign Desk Report

BAGHDAD (Iraq)—Two suicide bombers struck Baghdad’s police academy Tuesday, killing at least 43 people and wounding 73 more, US officials said, while Al-Jazeera broadcast an insurgent video claiming to have kidnapped a US security consultant. The suicide attackers were wearing explosives-laden vests and a US contractor was among those wounded, a US military statement said. US forces rushed to the scene to provide assistance, the statement said. The military initially said the bombers were women but later retracted the statement. “We were sitting in the yard when we heard an explosion,” said police Maj. Wisam al-Heyali. “Seconds later, we were hit by another explosion as we were running.
I saw some of my colleagues falling down and I felt my hand hit, but I kept on running”. Police Capt. Jalil Abdul-qadir said the death toll was 43, inlcuding seven policewomen. At least 73 people were wounded, incuding six policewomen. He said all of them were officers or students at the academy. US forces initially placed the death toll at 27. “One of the suicide bombers detonated near a group of students outside a classroom,” the Task Force Baghdad said. “Thinking the explosion was an indirect-fire attack, (Iraqi police) and students fled to a bunker for shelter where the second bomber detonated his vest”. Insurgents have concentrated their attacks against Iraqi security forces.