At least 27 Iraqi police officers and cadets were killed on Tuesday when two women suicide bombers blew themselves up in a Baghdad police academy classroom, the US military said.
"Two suicide bombers attacked an Iraqi police academy in east Baghdad around 12.45 pm," the military said in a statement.
According to initial reports, at least 27 police officers and academy students were killed and another 32 wounded in the attack, which comes just nine days before Iraq holds parliamentary elections, it said.
"Two females, each wearing a suicide vest, walked into a classroom at the academy and detonated in the midst of students," the statement said.
The deadly blast came after 19 Iraqi soldiers were killed in a bomb attack and ensuing shootout just north of the Sunni Muslim flashpoint town of Baquba on Saturday.
The insurgency that continues to plague Iraq more than two years since the US-led invasion to oust Saddam Hussein has frequently targeted security forces in a bid to derail efforts to restore a semblance of security.