The al-Qaida group in Iraq on Friday claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing attack in northern Iraq that killed 25 people.

"One of the cubs of the martyrdom brigades affiliated with the Organization of Al-Qaida in the Land of the Two Rivers carried out a heroic operation in Rabia," said a statement posted on an Islamic website that is often used by insurgents.

The attack killed 25 recruits and wounded 35 others when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside an army recruit center in Rabia, some 80 km northwest of the northern Iraqi city Mosul and close to the Syrian border.

The authenticity of the statement could not be verified.

The al-Qaida in Iraq, a group led by the Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has claimed many of the attacks in Iraq.

US officials said some 1,000 to 1,400 recruits are joining the new army every month as the US has sped up training Iraqi soldiers and police to help them take over security control before the foreign troops' withdrawal from the country.

However, insurgents frequently attack Iraqi army recruits and policemen in an attempt to cripple the Shiite-dominated government since its formation in late April.

Source: Xinhua