23 Killed in Bombing at Baghdad Recruiting Center

By JOHN F. BURNS
Published: July 11, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq, July 10 - A brief lull in the suicide bombings here ended Sunday when an attacker mingling with a crowd of men outside an Iraqi Army recruiting center detonated an explosive vest, killing at least 23 volunteers and wounding at least 40 others.

The attack came on a day when the war claimed at least 43 victims, including a mother and eight children ages 2 to 19, who were shot to death before dawn Sunday as they slept at their home in southern Baghdad.

Another victim was an Iraqi karate champion who was kidnapped outside Baghdad on Friday at a fake checkpoint. His body was found 24 hours later floating in the Tigris River near Kut, 100 miles south, said an Iraqi Olympic official who announced the death on Sunday and said he knew of no motive."