BAGHDAD, March 8: A suicide bomber on a bicycle blew himself up, killing at least 28 people and wounding 58 more outside a police academy in the Iraqi capital on Sunday in the bloodiest attack in weeks, officials said.

The bomber activated his explosive vest as he ploughed into the crowd on busy Palestine Street in central Baghdad, an interior ministry official said.

“The death toll has reached 28 dead and 58 wounded. The majority of the dead were police or recruits,” the official said.

An AFP photographer at Baghdad’s Al-Kindi hospital said many of the casualties he saw had serious injuries. The victims were taken to three hospitals in the city.

Police academies across Iraq have come under repeated attack as Al Qaeda and other insurgents continue to target security forces around the country. Fifteen people died and more than 45 were wounded in two blasts at the Baghdad academy on December 1.

It is located in a high security area which includes the interior, oil and irrigation ministries as well as army and national police compounds. In August, 25 Iraqis, most applicants to the police force, died in a suicide bombing at a recruiting centre in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad.

Security had been stepped up at the Baghdad academy to try to prevent further attacks and access to the building is intended to be only on foot through checkpoints.

Men are obliged to open their shirts to show they are not carrying weapons or explosives as they approach.

Palestine Street had been closed to vehicles for security reasons for two years. However one lane reopened late last year with no stopping allowed. —AFP
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