In Iraq, 31 persons were killed and more than 50 were inured in a suicide bomb explosion outside an army base near Baghdad. The death toll is likely to go up with many of the injured are in critical condition. The incident took place this morning as the suicide bomber rammed his car into the crowds of troops and recruits outside the base in Taji, north of Baghdad. Eyewitness accounts said that the explosion was so powerful that it left body parts being scattered every where around the blast site and many vehicles in the vicinity were charred beyond recognition.

The car bomb blasts, road side explosions and shoot outs have been resorted to by the Islamist insurgents affiliated to Al Qaeda in Iraq since the US troops left the country in December last year. The extremist outfit, Islamist State of Iraq has in the past claimed responsibility for a series of attacks targeting security personnel and Shiite neighbourhoods. Security agencies are now worried that the Islamists may be gaining a moral and financial boost from the Syrian crisis.