Suicide Bomber Kills At Least 50 In Iraq

Your browser doesn’t support HTML5

WARNING: Graphic content. (Reuters video)

Iraqi officials say a suicide bomber has killed at least 50 people and wounded some 150 others in a crowd of people seeking jobs with Iraq's security forces.

The blast occurred near a police station on the outskirts of the city of Tikrit, some 130 kilometers north of Baghdad.

Many of the victims were men lining up with their documents, hoping to get a job.

The blast was the deadliest to hit Iraq since an October 31 siege at a Baghdad church left 53 people dead.

It was also the first major attack in the country since Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki named a new cabinet on December 21, ending nine months of political deadlock after elections in March.

Overall violence has fallen sharply in the country since its peak in 2006-07, but shootings and bombings remain a daily occurrence.

compiled from agency reports