Trying to depress the number of Iraqis who dare to work in the government or law enforcement. “Suicide bomber targets police recruits in Tikrit; nearly 60 believed dead, 150 more wounded.” by Michael Sheridan in the New York Daily News, January 18 (thanks to Daniel):
A suicide bomber wrapped in explosives blew himself up among hundreds of young recruits looking to become police officers in Tikrit on Tuesday.
Latest estimates suggest as many as 60 were killed, another 150 wounded in the blast.
“We were waiting in the line to enter the police station yard after being searched when a powerful explosion threw me to the ground,” said recruit Quteiba Muhsin, whose legs were fractured in the blast. “I saw the dead bodies of two friends who were in the line. I am still in shock.”
Local officials suspect the terror organization Al Qaeda is behind the attack.
“Who else would it be but al Qaeda, who keep on slaughtering us,” said Ahmed Abdul-Jabbar, deputy governor of Salahuddin province. “They are the terrorists.”…
A police spokesman said that, at the time of the attack, more than 300 people were standing in line with their documents, hoping to get a $500-a-month job as a police trainee. They were the first to vie for 2,000 new police jobs that Iraq’s Interior Ministry recently approved for Salahuddin….