Dozens killed by Baghdad car bomb

Shoppers and Iraqis looking for work were caught up in the blast

A car bomb has exploded close to an Iraqi police station in central Baghdad, killing 47 people, health ministry officials say.

More than 100 people were injured in the huge mid-morning blast, which devastated a busy shopping area in Haifa Street.

Gunmen also shot dead 12 policemen and a civilian in Baquba, north of Baghdad.

A statement said to be from alleged al-Qaeda militant Abu Musab al Zarqawi's group said it carried out the attacks.

In other developments across Iraq:

• An explosion hits an oil pipeline near Beiji, north of Baghdad. Iraq's interim Electricity Minister says power supplies across Iraq are affected, but will be restored in hours.

• Reports say US forces and insurgents clashed in the town of Ramadi, west of Baghdad. Eyewitnesses say 10 Iraqis were killed. There has been no confirmation from the US military.

• One US soldier is killed and five hurt after gunmen fire on a patrol near the northern city of Mosul.

• Al-Jazeera television broadcasts a videotape showing masked men holding a Jordanian truck driver hostage in Iraq.

• Turkey threatens to stop co-operating with the US over Iraq unless its forces end an assault on Talafar - an Iraqi town populated mainly by ethnic Turkmen.

Fire and debris

Tuesday's explosion was the deadliest such attack in Iraq since July, when 68 people were killed by a car bomb outside a police station in Baquba.

Most of the dead in Haifa Street are thought to be civilians. At least 114 people were wounded.

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An Islamist website carried a statement purportedly from the Tawhid and Jihad movement, headed by a suspected al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claiming responsibility for the attack.

"A lion from the 'martyrdom-seeking brigade' succeeded in striking a centre for volunteers for the renegade police force," it said.

The statement also said the group carried out the shooting in Baquba.

Crowds of people seeking work with the Iraqi police force were waiting for the police station to open when the car blew up.

The BBC's Mike Donkin in Baghdad says the blast echoed across the city and punched a two-metre (6.5 ft) wide crater in the road.

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He says flying shrapnel smashed into a row of shops, fruit stalls and a busy cafe.

At least eight shops were destroyed by the blast and a number of cars were set on fire.

Rescuers pulled bodies from mangled market stalls.

Helicopters hovered above the scene as ambulances rushed casualties to hospital.

One injured Iraqi in hospital, who gave his name as Zafer, said he had been talking to his friend when the blast happened.

"Suddenly all I saw was blood, and my friend lying dead," he told Reuters news agency.

Local anger

Angry crowds gathered near the site of the explosion, denouncing the US military and the interim government of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi for failing to protect police recruiting centres.

"I blame Ayad Allawi's government for what happened because they did not take the necessary security measures," Ali Abul-Amir told the Associated Press news agency.

Haifa Street was bustling with civilians at the time of the blast

He had gone to the police station to join the force, but narrowly escaped the force of the explosion.

Interior Minister Falah Naqib was surrounded by angry people as he visited the site of the blast.

He condemned the perpetrators, saying they were trying to destroy Iraq.

"These powers won't stop the rebuilding of Iraq. There will be no space for the terrorists and the enemies of Iraq," he said.

Haifa Street has been the scene of regular mortar and missile attacks.

At least 13 people were killed in after US forces fired on a crowd of Iraqis following following an ambush against an American armoured vehicle.

Iraqi police forces have regularly been targeted by insurgents, who see them as collaborators with US forces.