Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- Up to 12 people were killed and 36 others were injured Sunday when suicide bombers struck an Iraqi military base in Baghdad, the Iraqi military command said. The interior ministry reported eight dead and 21 wounded.
There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy. There also were conflicting reports as to what happened.
According to an interior ministry official, the attack was carried out by five suicide bombers.
A suicide car bomber detonated at the checkpoint outside the base and was followed by two suicide bombers on foot who exchanged fire with Iraqi soldiers, the ministry official said. One of the bombers detonated his vest and the second was killed in the clashes.
According to the official, two other suicide bombers got into the compound and were holed up in a building.
The Baghdad Operations Command, the Iraqi military command in the capital, said in a statement on its website that five suicide vest bombers in a minibus drove up to the back gate of the base and were stopped by security forces, who opened fire after a bomber approached the checkpoint.
CNN
