Female suicide bomber kills 40 at university

Story Highlights

• NEW: Woman bomber killed at least 40, wounded 55
• NEW: The majority of those killed were students
• Iraqi president ill, goes to Jordan for treatment
• Militia leader says Baghdad security plan not working, is doomed to fail

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A combination of rocket and bomb attacks -- the worst taking place at the entrance to a Baghdad university -- killed more than 50 people and wounded dozens of others Sunday in Iraq.

The suicide bomber was a woman, an official with Iraqi interior ministry told CNN, based on eyewitness accounts. At least 40 people were killed and 55 wounded in the blast.

Most of the dead were students, the official said.

It is the second attack on Mustansiriya University in less than two months.

The bomber detonated her explosives vest outside Mustansiriya University's economic and management college in Talbiya district near Baghdad's Sadr City, the official said.

On January 16, coordinated car bomb and suicide bomber attacks killed at least 70 civilians - mainly students - at the university's main campus, also near Sadr City.

A 22-year-old student, Muhanad Nasir, told The Associated Press 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 had injuries to his head and chest.(Watch bloody scene at college )

The metal gate to the college was twisted by the force of the blast and shrapnel tore chunks out of the cement walls, AP reported.

Video from the scene showed people using rags and clothes to mop up puddles of blood.

Car bomb outside mosque

Elsewhere in Baghdad, two rockets landed in an outdoor market in the Abu Dishir Shiite neighborhood, killing at least 10 people and wounding another eight on Sunday morning, the official said.

A car bomb exploded in central Baghdad just 100 yards from the Iranian embassy, killing at least one person and wounding four others, according to a Baghdad police official.

An Iranian embassy employee said no one inside the compound was hurt.

Meanwhile, the death toll from Saturday's suicide car bombing near a mosque in Anbar province was raised to 40, with 65 people wounded, according to an Interior Ministry official.

Local residents told AP the imam of the Sunni mosque in Habbaniya had spoken out against extremists. Also, according to AP, many who live in the neighborhood are employed by Iraqi military and police forces, who are frequently the targets of militant strikes.

The vehicle exploded as worshippers left the mosque's afternoon prayers, AP reported.

Habbaniya, 40 miles west of Baghdad, is between Falluja and Ramadi.

Anti-U.S. cleric says security plan doomed to fail

Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said Sunday that the U.S.-backed Baghdad security plan was not stopping violence in the Iraqi capital, and was doomed to fail, AP reported.

Many in Iraq believe al-Sadr agreed to requests from the Shiite-led government to rein in his Mehdi Army militia to give the plan a chance to work, AP said.

His Sunday statement suggests he is losing patience and increases pressure on U.S. and Iraqi forces to make the crackdown successful, AP reported.

Iraqi National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie told CNN on Sunday the security plan needs time to work and it could take months before there are "tangible" successes over the sectarian warfare in the Iraqi capital.

"We should not look at this Baghdad security plan in terms of days or even weeks," al-Rubaie said." "Probably we will see a tangible success or measurable success by Easter time [early April]."

Al-Rubaie also said Iran has stopped interfering in Iraq's affairs and has advised its allies inside Iraq to support the government and the Baghdad security plan. (Full story)

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Saturday the U.S.-Iraqi crackdown on insurgents has dismantled terrorist cells and yielded the arrests and killing of hundreds of insurgents. The prime minister said 426 suspected insurgents have been detained and roughly the same number killed.

The Baghdad Operation Command took action on Sunday to stem the car bombings that have claimed dozens of lives in recent weeks.

Baghdad citizens are forbidden from parking their vehicles on any of the city's main streets. A statement from the Baghdad Operation Command said vacant lots will be set up as designated parking areas.

"Anyone ignoring this order will be held accountable under terrorism laws. ... And their car will be confiscated," the statement said.

Iraqi president ill

Iraq's President Jalal Talabani has fallen ill and was flown to neighboring Jordan for treatment, though "there is no need to worry," a statement from his office said Sunday.

The statement said Talabani, an Iraqi Kurd who is in his early 70s, became sick "as a result of the hard and continuing work of the past few days."

"He is in stable condition and we hope he will come back to this country in a safe and healthy way," the statement said.

Talabani is head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the two main parties controlling Iraqi Kurdistan.

CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report.