Baghdad: suicide bombers kill scores at police academy, U.S. citizen reported kidnapped

Two men strapped with explosives detonated themselves at Baghdad's police academy on Tuesday, killing at least 43 people and wounding 73 more, officials said, while al-Jazeera broadcast an insurgent video of a man purported to be a U.S. security consultant.

The men were wearing explosives-laden vests and a U.S. contractor was among those wounded, a U.S. military statement said. U.S. forces rushed to the scene to provide assistance, the statement said. The military retracted an earlier statement that the bombers were women.

Al-Qaida in Iraq, the country's most notorious insurgent group, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on an Islamic militant Web forum.

"Two blessed brothers ... launched their attack, targeting the Police Academy, which continues to produce the dogs that shed the blood and violate the honor of Sunni Muslims," it said. The claim's authenticity could not be independently verified, reported AP. P.T.