Targeting Iraqi College Students

Why do these people blow themselves up among college students, Iraq's only hope for a brighter future?  I understand why the former Baathi elite would want to destroy Iraq, but why does Al Qaeda do it?  They must realize by now that Sunni Arabs also attend Mustansiriya.

At least 41 die in Iraq blast

Updated 2/25/2007 9:38 AM ET

Enlarge By Ali Yussef, AFP/Getty Images The silhouette of an Iraqi police commando is reflected on a pool of blood inside a room after a suicide bombing at Mustansiriyah University's School of Economy and Administration in eastern Baghdad. About half of the university victims were women, according to a spokesman for the nearby Imam Ali hospital. Make-believe: Iraqi children imitate life on Baghdad streets | Series: Get a weekly glimpse of life in Iraq Battle for Baghdad: 'The most dangerous spot I could find' | Photos: Baghdad's neighborhoods U.S. buildup: House votes to rebuke Bush plan | GOP thwarts vote in Senate Photo essays: Sniper hunt | Shorja market bombings Violence: Chlorine attacks | Multiple rape allegations | Homemade 'speed bumps' deadly on roads Executions: Half-brother hanged | Bush: Saddam hanging botched | Graphic | Photos American casualties: Toll reaches 3,000 | Video | Deadly blast | A look at troops who lost their lives | Graphic

BAGHDAD (AP) — A suicide bomber struck Sunday outside a college campus in Baghdad, killing at least 41 people and injuring dozens as a string of other blasts and rocket attacks left bloodshed around the city.

Most of the victims were students at the college, a business studies annex of Mustansiriyah University that was hit by a series of deadly explosions last month. At least 46 people were injured in Sunday's blast.

The wave of attacks around Baghdad came a day after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki lauded the progress of an ongoing U.S.-Iraqi security operation seeking to cripple militant factions and sectarian killings in the capital.

The suicide attacker detonated a bomb-rigged belt near the main entrance to the college, where students were resuming midterm exams after the two-day weekend in Iraq. Police said that guards confronted the bomber as he tried to enter the college grounds.

A 22-year-old student, Muhanad Nasir, said he saw a commotion at the gate. "Then there was an explosion. I did not feel anything for 15 minutes and when I returned to consciousness, I found myself in the hospital," said Nasir, who was wounded in his head and chest.

The blast left cement walls pockmarked by shrapnel and twisted parts of the metal gate and turnstile. Parents rushed to the site and some collapsed in tears after learning their children were killed or injured. Students used rags and towels to try to mop up the blood.