By Xinhua,
Baghdad : Up to 20 Iraqi army recruits were killed Tuesday and 65 others wounded when two suicide bombers blew themselves up at a recruitment centre in the northern province of Diyala, the interior ministry said.
The two bombers detonated their explosive vests in the midst of dozens of men queuing up to sign for Iraqi Army at the Saad base, in the provincial capital Baquba, a spokesman of the ministry said.
Earlier, the interior ministry said a suicide bomber killed five recruits and wounded 55 others.
US and Iraqi security forces cordoned off the area while ambulances and civilian cars transported the wounded to the city hospitals, he said.
Diyala, which stretches from the eastern edges of Baghdad to the Iranian border, has long been stronghold for Al Qaeda in Iraq network.
The attack came as the US and Iraqi security forces have been conducting major offensives against extremist Sunni and Shia militiamen across the war-torn country.