BAGHDAD, April 15: Car bombs ripped through crowded areas in Baghdad 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 militants even as clashes between Shiite militia fighters and invading US and puppet Iraqi forces continued elsewhere.

The first blast on Tuesday occurred in Baqouba, 60 kilometers (35 miles) 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 damaged.

One survivor described a huge fire that sent black smoke billowing into the sky and left charred bodies inside their cars.

“I was on my way to the government office when a big explosion occurred near site,” said the witness, who would only identify himself by his nickname Abu Ali. “As I approached the site, I saw cars on fire, burned bodies and damaged shops with shattered glass everywhere.”

At least 40 people were killed and 70 wounded in the blast, according to hospital officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorised to release the information.

The US government’s AP Television News footage showed many of the bodies covered in crisp white sheets in the main hospital’s courtyard while the emergency room inside was overwhelmed with the wounded.

The invading 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.

It was the deadliest bombing in Iraq since a pair of female suicide bombers struck two pet markets, killing 99 people in a coordinated attack in Baghdad on Feb 1.

Another parked car bomb exploded near a kebab restaurant at about 12:30 pm in an industrial area in Ramadi, killing at least 13 people, including three policemen, and wounding 20 other people, police Capt Abu Saif al-Anbari said. Hospital officials said two children were among the dead.

Several people were badly injured and the blood seeped through their bandages as they lay on stretchers on the floor in the packed emergency room at the hospital.

Ahmed al-Dulaimi, a 27-year-old mechanic, was at the restaurant when the blast occurred but escaped injury because he was sitting at a back table. He said his cousin, who owned the restaurant, had been killed.

He said the explosion occurred after a motorcycle parked near the restaurant, but police insisted it was a car bomb.

“Pieces of flesh flew into the air and the roof fell over us. I saw the horrible sight of bodies without heads or without legs or hands,” he said.

Ramadi, 115 kilometers (70 miles) west of Baghdad, is the capital of the Anbar province and has largely been sealed off by checkpoints.

The invading US military claimed overall attacks in the Diyala province have dropped more than 76 per cent since June 2007.

“Although attacks such as today’s event are tragic, it is not indicative of the overall security situation in Baqouba,” Maj Mike Garcia, a spokesman for invading US forces in Diyala, said in a statement.

A parked car bomb also targeted a police patrol in Baghdad, killing four people who were passing by and wounding 15 other people, police said.

The relative calm in predominantly Sunni areas has coincided with clashes between Shiite militia fighters and US forces in Baghdad and the oil-rich southern city of Basra.

But while the Bush administration has begun citing what it calls Iranian-backed Shiite factions as the greatest threat to Iraq’s stability, US commanders have consistently warned that Iraqi freedom fighters continue to pose a serious danger.—AP