A suicide car bomb attack this morning outside the regional headquarters of the Iraqi National Guard in the northern city of Kirkuk killed 23 men, most of whom were waiting to join the force, doctors said.
The attack wounded another 53, some of whom were in critical condition, the doctors at Kirkuk hospital said. The bomber detonated his car at the rear entrance of the National Guard headquarters in a residential area of the city.
Iraqi insurgents have targeted the Iraqi security forces as part of a campaign against the US-backed interim government. A car bomb near a police station in Baghdad this week killed 47, many of whom were waiting to sign up for the Iraqi police.
Yesterday a suicide bomber detonated his vehicle alongside several Iraqi police patrol cars at a checkpoint in Baghdad, killing at least eight.