Iraq car bombs kill at least 29

The car bombs went off within minutes of each other

At least 29 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in a wave of car bomb attacks targeting Iraqi security forces in and around Baghdad.

The apparently co-ordinated blasts come just a day after Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari unveiled his new cabinet.

No-one has admitted carrying out the attacks, the deadliest of which took place in Baghdad's Adhamiya area.

A tape purportedly from al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, calls for more attacks on US forces.

Posted on a website, the taped message is delivered by a speaker identifying himself as the Jordanian militant. He vows not to let President George W Bush enjoy "peace of mind".

Residents puzzled

The heaviest loss of life occurred in the wave of attacks across Baghdad.

Four blasts rocked the Sunni-dominated neighbourhood of Adhamiya at around 0800 (0400GMT), officials said.

The bombs went off within minutes of each other and targeted patrols of Iraqi police or national guards as well as a restaurant they frequent.

Why are they trying to set Sunnis and Shias apart? Adnan Aziz Salman Baghdad resident In pictures: Iraq blasts

Cars were destroyed, shops gutted and pools of blood stained the streets of a district where insurgents have been active.

"Why are they killing innocent Iraqis? Why are they trying to set Sunnis and Shias apart?" one man inspecting the damage, Adnan Aziz Salman, said to Reuters news agency.

"They should go and kill our occupiers. We don't care who our leaders are. We just want security."

A short while later, a bomb also exploded as an Iraqi army convoy passed through the east of the city. At least one soldier was killed and eight wounded.

As people gathered to investigate the blast, a second bomb exploded.

Three devices also went off close to a military checkpoint, a hospital and a post office in the town of Madain, 30km south of Baghdad, killing troops and wounding civilians.

The town was recently taken over by Iraqi forces after reports that scores of Shia Muslims had been taken hostage by insurgents there.

Elsewhere in Iraq:

• a US convoy came under gunfire in Baghdad's southern Dura district. Nearby, a 10-year-old girl was wounded when a mortar shell landed on her home, said officials

• a bomb disposal expert was killed and at least one civilian wounded in the Kurdish city of Arbil in northern Iraq, local police said

• an Iraqi border patrol guard was killed and two wounded by a bomb attack in the southern city of Basra

• a US soldier was killed and four others wounded in a roadside bomb attack in Hawija, 240km (150 miles) north of Baghdad on Thursday, the US military said.

Challenge

Coming on the first day of the new Iraqi government, these attacks underline the overwhelming challenge facing the administration, says the BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad.

The attacks - on the Muslim day of worship - are the latest in an increased spate of insurgent violence in recent weeks.

The violence has coincided with the final stages of the long drawn out process of forming a new Iraqi government following January's elections.

The majority Shia community, as well as Iraqi and coalition troops, have been the most frequent targets of attacks.