Iraq car bomb attacks kill 60

Baghdad: Car bombs and a suicide attacker struck crowded areas in Baghdad and former insurgent strongholds to the north and west of the capital on Tuesday, killing nearly 60 people and breaking a recent lull in violence in the predominantly Sunni areas.

The attacks were a deadly reminder of the threat posed by suspected Sunni insurgents even as clashes between Shiite militia fighters and US-Iraqi forces continued elsewhere.

The US military condemned the bombings and said they appeared to have been carried out by Al Qaida in Iraq.

The first blast on Tuesday occurred in Baqouba, 60km northeast of Baghdad, when a car parked in front of a restaurant exploded just before noon across the street from the central courthouse and other government offices.

Many of the victims were people visiting the government offices, petition writers helping people with documents in stalls outside or the occupants of cars that were caught in the explosion as they passed through the area, witnesses said.

Several cars and minibuses were set ablaze, while more than 10 shops and the restaurant were heavily destroyed.

At least 40 people were killed and 70 wounded in the blast, according to hospital officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Restaurant targeted

The US military in northern Iraq gave a slightly lower toll, saying 35 Iraqi citizens were killed, including a policeman, and 66 wounded in the attack. It also said three buses were destroyed and 10 shops were damaged.

A suicide attacker on a motorcycle later drove up to a kebab restaurant in Ramadi and detonated his explosives vest around 12.30pm, killing at least 13 people including three policemen and wounding 20 other people, police Captain Abu Saif Al Anbari said.

Police initially thought a parked car had exploded in the industrial area but later determined it was a suicide attack, Al Anbari said.

Ramadi, 115km west of Baghdad, is the capital of Anbar province and has largely been sealed off by checkpoints.

Like Baqouba, the area has seen a sharp decline in violence in recent months as Sunni tribal leaders have joined forces with the Americans against Al Qaida in Iraq.

Meanwhile, the purported leader of the Al Qaida umbrella group the Islamic State of Iraq called on the US-allied Sunni fighters who switched sides to return to the insurgency.