Two suicide bombers dressed as senior police officers blew themselves up inside the Interior Ministry compound in Baghdad today, killing 28 people and wounding 22 on Iraq's National Police Day.
One of the bombers had been wearing the uniform of a major, while the second was dressed as a lieutenant-colonel. Both had secured security passes that enabled them to enter separately through the main checkpoint.
As one of the bombers walked away from the checkpoint, Interior Ministry guards became suspicious because he appeared to be "too fat", police said.
They opened fire, shooting him in the back and hitting the bulky explosives belt he was wearing beneath his uniform, causing him to explode.
As the guards gathered around the blast site, the second bomber, who had not yet apparently aroused suspicion, detonated his explosives, blowing up policemen and ministry civilian staff.
"We want to know where they got their security badges from," a police source said.
A ceremony celebrating the 84th anniversary of the formation of the Iraqi police force was taking place at the police academy next door to the ministry at the time of the blasts about 500 yards away.
Among dignitaries attending were the US ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, and the Iraqi defence and interior ministers.
A US military spokesman said the attack on the ministry did not interrupt the parade.
The ministry has been attacked by insurgents on several previous occasions, especially by Sunni Arab insurgents who accuse it of running Shia militia who oppress the minority Sunni Arab community. The ministry denies such charges.
Elsewhere Sunni Arabs in Iraq branded a US raid on a mosque complex a "sinful assault" and said it would worsen their relations with the US military.
Sunni Arab political parties said the Sunday raid on the Baghdad offices of the influential Muslim Clerics' Association targeted the clergy and violated a place of worship.
The attack appears likely to worsen relations between the U.S. military and Sunni Arabs at a time when Washington is trying to encourage Sunnis to abandon support for a deadly insurgency and embrace the political process.
"It is a direct and intended act against Sunnis. It is an assault. It will only worsen the relations with them (the US military)," Abdul Hadi al Zubeidi, a senior member of the Sunni coalition, the Sunni Gathering, told reporters.
The U.S. military said it conducted the raid on the offices in the complex of the Umm al-Qora mosque in response to a tip-off of "substantial terrorist activity" there.
It says US soldiers behaved respectfully during their search of the premises and the arrests of six people.