A suicide truck bomber slammed into a crowd of police lining up for duty Sunday near Tikrit, killing at least 30 people and wounding 50, police said.
Minutes later, a roadside bomb struck a car on a highway on the western outskirts of Tikrit, 80 miles north of Baghdad, killing two civilians and wounding two others, police said.
The first blast occurred about 8 a.m. as police were arriving for work at the Adwar police station, provincial police Capt. Abdel-Samad Mohammed said, giving the casualty toll. He said 21 of the 30 killed were policemen.
The bomber drove a small truck that was packed with explosives covered by hay and the force of the blast caused the building to collapse. Three houses close to the station, along with municipal offices and the post office, also were heavily damaged.
Local residents who rushed to the scene tried to help with rescue efforts before civil defense squads arrived with shovels to remove the debris and pull out the dead and those injured. U.S. and Iraqi forces later surrounded the area while recovery efforts continued.
Adwar, about 12 miles southeast of Tikrit, is where former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was captured on Dec. 13, 2003.
Insurgents frequently target Iraqi security forces, accusing them of collaborating with the U.S.
Ambush near Mosul
Earlier, gunmen shot dead eight men when they ambushed a vehicle northwest of Mosul, Iraq’s third-largest city, and raked it with machinegun fire, police said on Sunday.
Police said Saturday’s ambush took place on the main road between the towns of Sinjar and Rabiyaa. The men had been returning home after registering at a border guard recruitment center in Sinjar.
It appeared they were deliberately targeted by gunmen who may have been watching them in Sinjar and then followed them out of town, police said.
A U.S. soldier also was killed Saturday after coming under small-arms fire northeast of Baghdad, the military said, raising the number of American troops who have died this month to 37.
