BAGHDAD — A suicide bomber struck an Iraqi military base Thursday in an attack that Iraqi officials first said killed 16 soldiers, but the government later maintained that no one died but the attacker.
The conflicting death counts came at a time when Iraqi officials are under increasing pressure to stop attacks. Last week, angry Iraqis in Baghdad hurled stones at police and soldiers because they had failed to stop a car bombing.
The suicide attacker wore an Iraqi military uniform in Thursday’s bombing — the fourth major attack on Iraqi security forces in a week.
That raised questions about insurgents’ ability to infiltrate the country’s armed forces or to receive help from inside their ranks.
U.S. officials have based their hopes for Iraq’s future on building a professional Iraqi military capable of securing the country as the U.S. draws down its forces this year.
Two Iraqi army officers, contacted by phone from Baghdad, said the bomber detonated an explosive belt among soldiers headed for a canteen at Habbaniyah air base in Anbar province 45 miles west of Baghdad.
One of the officers described a “thunderous” explosion that left “bodies and pieces of human flesh scattered all over near the canteen.”
He said 16 soldiers were killed and 50 wounded. The second officer said only that a number of soldiers had died.
Both officers spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not supposed to release information to media.
Later, however, the Defense Ministry spokesman, Maj. Gen. Mohammed al-Askari, said 38 Iraqi soldiers were wounded but only the bomber died.
The sprawling base was sealed off and reporters were unable to enter to check on the conflicting reports. There was no indication of any U.S. casualties.
No group claimed responsibility for the blast, but suicide bombings are the signature attack of al-Qaeda in Iraq, which was active in Anbar until Sunni tribesmen turned against the terror movement in 2006 and joined forces with the Americans.
At least 37 people have been killed in four major attacks on Iraqi security forces since April 10, when a suicide truck bomber blasted the regional police headquarters in Mosul. Five American soldiers and two Iraqi policemen were killed in the Mosul blast.
