A suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowd of police recruits on Tuesday, killing at least 52 people and undercutting Iraqi security efforts as the nation struggles to show it can protect itself without foreign help. The death toll was still rising hours after police said the bomber joined hundreds of waiting recruits and detonated his explosives-packed vest outside the police station in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, some 80 miles (130 kilometres) north of Baghdad.
The attack starkly displayed the Iraqi forces' failure to plug even the most obvious holes in their security as the US military prepares to withdraw from Iraq at the year's end. One recruit who survived the blast said the jobseekers were frisked before they entered the station's yard.
"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 because of the explosion and the scene of my two dead friends."
Loudspeakers from the city's mosques were calling on people to donate blood for the wounded. An Iraqi television station broadcast footage from the scene that showed pools of blood, bits of clothing and shoes of the victims scattered near a concrete blast wall. Tikrit police put the death toll at 52, with at least 150 wounded. Dr Anas Abdul-Khaliq of Tikrit hospital confirmed the casualty figures.
Tikrit is the capital of Sunni-dominated Salahuddin province, and the city sheltered some of al Qaida's most fervent support after the 2003 US-led invasion ousted Saddam. Salahuddin provincial councilman Abdullah Jabara accused al Qaida of being behind the attack.
"The aim of this terrorist attack carried out by al Qaida operatives is to shake the security in the province and to bring back instability to Tikrit," Jabara said. "The security forces shoulder responsibility for this tragic incident." Jabara said insurgents successfully exploited what he called 'inefficiencies' and 'breaches' in security measures, calling it "an indication that the terrorists are still on the job and all security forces should be on high alert all the time."