Ahmed Abdul-Jabbar, deputy governor of Salahuddin province, said the attack took place outside a police recruiting centre where Iraqi men were lining up with their documents, hoping to get a job.

"Who else would it be but al Qaeda, who keep on slaughtering us," said Abdul-Jabbar. "They are the terrorists."

A police source in the city, 150 km north of Baghdad, said the main hospital was overwhelmed. Mosques broadcast appeals for residents to donate blood.

"The hospital theater now is full of dead and wounded young people. Ambulances are still evacuating casualties," the police source said at the hospital, asking not to be identified.

A police spokesman said more than 300 people were standing in line at the time of the attack.

Reuters