Two female suicide bombers detonated themselves at Baghdad's police academy today, killing 27 people and wounding at least 32 more, the US military said.
Iraqi police said one bomb exploded in a cafeteria, while the other detonated during roll call. Police said the women were probably students at the academy, which is why they were not searched.
Five other female police officers were among the dead. No US forces were killed or wounded in the attack the US military said.
Iraqi insurgents have concentrated their attacks against Iraqi security forces.
Today's attack was the deadliest against Iraqi forces since February 28th, when a suicide car bomber attacked mostly Shiite police and National Guard recruits in Hillah, killing 125.
Yesterday, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged that the insurgency has been stronger than anticipated, but he also said the news media have focused on the war's growing body count rather than progress that has been achieved.
"To be responsible, one needs to stop defining success in Iraq as the absence of terrorist attacks," Mr Rumsfeld said in remarks at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.