A car bomb exploded at a recruiting facility of the new Iraqi army in central Baghdad on Wednesday, killing up to 25 people, the US military said.  

"A car bomb exploded at the new Iraqi army recruiting facility in Baghdad at around 7:40 am (11:40 pm EST Tuesday). Between 20 to 25 people are known to have been killed," a US spokesman said.

Witnesses said US troops cordoned off the area known as Muthana Airport, a small air facility abandoned for decades but recently used by the new Iraqi army.

Offices of a fundamentalist Shi'ite Muslim group are situated nearby.

It was the second bloody car bomb attack against Iraqis working with US occupation forces in 24 hours. Around 50 people were killed in a similar attack Tuesday outside a police station south of Baghdad.

(China Daily February 11, 2004)