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At least 11 people were killed and 22 wounded in Baghdad when a suicide bomber blew himself up among recruits to the Iraqi security forces, hospital and security sources said.
"A suicide bomber wearing an explosives vest blew himself up among a group waiting to sign up to join the commandos," Colonel Adnan Abdelrahman told AFP referring to a special forces unit attached to the interior ministry.
He gave an initial toll of 20 killed and wounded which was later revised down to at least 11 killed and 22 wounded by the Al-Yarmuk hospital, where the casualties were taken.
A statement from the US military confirmed the attack and gave a death toll of 12.
Abdelrahman said the attack happened at about 9am (1500 AEST) near Al-Nusur Square in the city centre, not far from the commando headquarters, the target of several deadly attacks in the past.
The building was practically destroyed in a massive truck bombing on January 4 that killed 10 people and wounded 56.
Another bombing at the camp in early October killed 15 people and wounded 84, many of them would-be recruits.
Billed as a crack force, the commandos have been deployed in several strongholds of the Sunni Arab insurgency, including the cities of Mosul and Samarra, to counter the daily violence.
Their presence has sparked strong protests in Sunni circles, with allegations of brutality and heavy-handed treatment of suspects.
The force has had its own program on state television since November in which captured suspects confess to their crimes.
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