By Muhanad Mohammed
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - One or more suicide bombers on Sunday tried to storm an army base in Baghdad where dozens of Iraqi army recruits and soldiers were killed by another suicide bomber just over two weeks ago, security officials said.
A police source said one person died and six were wounded in Sunday's attack, which took place less than a week after Washington declared U.S. combat operations in Iraq over and said the Iraq war was in its final stages.
An Interior Ministry source said two soldiers were killed and eight wounded. The source said gunmen opened fire on the entrance of the army base, then two suicide bombers on foot tried to storm the gate but were stopped and killed.
Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim al-Moussawi said the attack involved a suicide bomber in a car.
"It was a suicide car bomber targeting the main entrance of Rusafa military command," Moussawi said.
Conflicting accounts from different sources are common in the chaotic aftermath of bomb attacks in Iraq.
Residents in the neighbourhood reported extensive shooting after the explosion and said the gunfire continued for more than half an hour. Many said there were two explosions.
Moussawi said soldiers fired into the air to keep onlookers away, fearing there could be a second attack.
At least 57 recruits and soldiers were killed and 123 wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the same army base on August 17.
The base, which was a defence ministry headquarters under Saddam Hussein, serves as an army recruitment centre as well as a military command.
Tensions are simmering in Iraq as the country remains in a political vacuum six months after an inconclusive vote. Talks on forming the next government have made little progress.
The end of the U.S. combat mission 7-1/2 years after the invasion to topple Saddam has raised fears of a return to broader bloodshed and of increased attacks by Sunni Islamist insurgents.
(Reporting by Baghdad bureau and Reuters Television; Writing by Serena Chaudhry; Editing by Michael Christie)
