Defence and interior ministry officials said that a car bomb went off in Adhamiyah on Monday. A suicide bomber then blew himself up among the crowd that had gathered around the blast scene.

Al Jazeera sources said 68 peoople were wounded in the blasts.

A doctor said several women and children were among the casualties.

Witnesses said the attack took place on a street lined with restaurants as a bus carrying children to a school drove past.

Adhamiyah, a Sunni neighbourhood in a mostly Shia eastern half of the city, saw fierce clashes at the height of Iraq's sectarian violence. Attacks in the area have sharply dropped over the last year.

Despite the improvement in security in large swathes of Iraq, including the capital, armed groups continue to launch near daily attacks, most of them targeting US and Iraqi security forces.

Separately, a female suicide bomber blew herself up in Diyala, killing six and injuring 10 others.


Agencies