Suicide bomb instructor accidentally kills 22 militants in his class

Nearly two dozen militants were killed in a suicide bombing training class in Iraq Monday when the instructor accidentally set off a belt packed with explosives, the New York Times reports.

An Iraqi army officer said that the teacher conducting the class was a prolific recruiter who was “able to kill the bad guys for once.”

{mosads}The Sunni militants were part of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which is battling Iraqi government forces in the country’s western Anbar province.

Twenty-two militants were killed in the blast — which occurred because the instructor conducted a demonstration with a belt he didn’t realize had live explosives — and 15 more were injured, Iraqi army and police officials told the Times.

Eight militants were arrested when they tried to escape the camp in the northeastern Samara province, the officials said.

The ISIS has overtaken cities in Anbar in recent weeks, including Fallujah, where U.S. forces once took heavy casualties.