Iraqi violence take its toll on security forces

With no work and five children to feed, Salah Abbas ignored his family's pleas not to join the Iraqi National Guard, a job where the paycheck comes with a deadly risk.

But a suicide bomber who blew himself up last month near where Abbas and others were lining up to apply for the force changed his mind.

"How can anyone volunteer after this disaster?" he said from his hospital bed after the blast left him with shrapnel wounds to the back and legs. "I won't join. I'd rather live on bare bread."

Insurgents are increasingly targeting men like Abbas along with those who have already entered the ranks of security forces, and appear to have raised the level of planning and sophistication of operations to work around security measures.

A wave of bombings, mortar attacks and shootings of police and potential recruits -- viewed by guerrillas as collaborators with US-led forces -- have left areas around many police stations and recruiting centers littered with mangled body parts and teeming with dazed men in bloodied uniforms.

Interior Ministry officials say there are no comprehensive figures for security forces killed in attacks across the country.

Major General Samir al-Waeli, an Interior Ministry official, said nearly 1,000 policemen have been killed since April 2003. But the figure doesn't include volunteers killed in attacks on recruitment centers or members of other security services, such as the national guard and army.

Baghdad police commander, Major General Abdul Razzaq Abdul Wahhab, told reporters police would review security and work on erecting more roadblocks and checking the identity of drivers approaching possible targets.

Officials say they are also trying to limit the number of assembled applicants by asking them not to show up on the same day.

Some of the survivors of the Sept. 22 bombing which wounded Abbas said those waiting to join the national guard were asked to spread out in a nearby street rather than line up outside the recruiting center and present attackers with an easy target. But the militants knew exactly where to strike.

Instead of exploding the car at the center, the driver blew it up on the street where the recruits were photocopying documents, eating ice-cream and chatting with each other. At least six people were killed and another 54 wounded.

"They are better organized than before," said Major General Anwar Mohammed Amin of the Iraqi National Guard in the northern city of Kirkuk of the insurgents. "They wait for a chance, stake out targets and get thorough information."

Despite the carnage, Iraqi officials say the attacks have failed to demoralize troops or drive away volunteers, with applications continuing to pour in. Some policemen say the attacks only increase their determination to serve their country.