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"A suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt blew himself up at the entrance of the police academy on Palestine Street," an interior ministry official said, putting the toll at 15 killed and 21 wounded.
A police colonel confirmed the toll.
It was the deadliest attack in Iraq since January 27, when a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-packed car outside a hospital in the Iraqi capital, killing 31 people.
Violence in Iraq is down from its peak in 2006 and 2007, but attacks remain common, killing 151 people in January.