Two suicide bombers targeted a key police commando base in western Baghdad yesterday, killing 35 young men waiting to join the force, as other bombs also exploded in and around the Iraqi capital.
The pair blew themselves up as potential recruits gathered at the Iraqi National Police base in Qadissiyah neighborhood, according to security officials.
At least 60 more were wounded in the morning attack.
The suicide attacks came just hours after twin bombings -- including a car bomb on a major highway near the city center -- killed another four civilians in central Baghdad and wounded 10 others. Another similar twin attack in central Baghdad's Babil al-Sharji area left five dead and seven wounded.
A security official said the car bomb exploded first, killing four people, and as police arrived at the site a roadside bomb was set off that killed a policeman.
South of Baghdad, in Radwaniyah, a roadside bomb destroyed a civilian car killing three people, while a car bomb near a school in Yusifiyah southwest of the capital killed three and wounded 15.
Another car bomb killed one civilian and wounded five in eastern Baghdad's Karrada district, while yet another in the Mulmalif area on the southern outskirts of the capital killed one and wounded six.
Gunmen killed a senior official working with the municipality of Baghdad's al-Rashid district, police said. His driver was also killed.
In a separate attack, gunmen stormed a primary school in the northern town of Samarra and shot dead a female teacher inside the office
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called yesterday for a "complete" Cabinet reshuffle, a statement from his office said.
Maliki has said that he wants to change several ministers but he appears to have run into opposition from key parties in his coalition.
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