Suicide bombers kill 14 at Iraqi ministry

BAGHDAD – At least 14 people were killed and 20 wounded in an apparent suicide bomb attack on Iraq’s Interior Ministry on Monday as the country marked National Police Day, police said.

Police said they believed two suicide bombers detonated explosives outside the building in eastern Baghdad. They were trying to establish how one of the bombers had managed to get through a series of checkpoints in the heavily guarded compound.A ceremony celebrating the 84th anniversary of the formation of the Iraqi police force was taking place at the police academy next door to the ministry at the time of the blast.Among the dignatories attending were the US ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, and the Iraqi defence and interior ministers.US military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Barry Johnson, who was at the ceremony, denied an Iraqi state television report that a mortar bomb had hit the parade ground.”The blast could be heard in the distance, but no mortar hit the parade ground,” he told Reuters.The ministry has been attacked by insurgents on several previous occasions, especially by Sunni Arab insurgents who accuse it of running Shi’ite militia who oppress the minority Sunni Arab community.The ministry denies such charges.In November, US troops found a bunker run by the Interior Ministry containing 170 prisoners, mostly Sunni Arabs.Many showed signs of abuse and torture.- Nampa-ReutersThey were trying to establish how one of the bombers had managed to get through a series of checkpoints in the heavily guarded compound.A ceremony celebrating the 84th anniversary of the formation of the Iraqi police force was taking place at the police academy next door to the ministry at the time of the blast.Among the dignatories attending were the US ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, and the Iraqi defence and interior ministers.US military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Barry Johnson, who was at the ceremony, denied an Iraqi state television report that a mortar bomb had hit the parade ground.”The blast could be heard in the distance, but no mortar hit the parade ground,” he told Reuters.The ministry has been attacked by insurgents on several previous occasions, especially by Sunni Arab insurgents who accuse it of running Shi’ite militia who oppress the minority Sunni Arab community.The ministry denies such charges.In November, US troops found a bunker run by the Interior Ministry containing 170 prisoners, mostly Sunni Arabs.Many showed signs of abuse and torture.- Nampa-Reuters