At least 11 people have been killed and 20 wounded, mostly police officers, after two car bombs hit an Iraqi Interior Ministry complex in Baghdad's al-Jadiriyah neighbourhood.

The bombers blew up their cars on Thursday morning near a fortified section of the ministry in central Baghdad, police said.

The bombs detonated in quick succession about 200m apart on a busy street packed with traffic. A Reuters cameraman said children were among the dead.

Other witnesses said 15 cars were destroyed in the explosions and human debris was scattered over a wide area.

Simultaneous explosion

The blasts occurred near Iraqi police vehicles protecting an entrance to the Interior Ministry building.

Iraqi journalist Walid Khalid told Aljazeera that as the convoy was about to enter the Interior Ministry, the two bombers simultaneously targeted the convoy from the back and the front.

He said the toll might rise because of the critical injuries among civilians and police officers.

An Interior Ministry official, who asked not to be named, said at least 15 people had been killed.

Another ministry official, Captain Ahmad Ismail, said 18 were killed and 36 wounded.

Khalid said US helicopters were seen flying above the attack site, where other Iraqi government offices are located.

An Iraqi police captain told Aljazeera many of the victims were part of the highway patrol responsible for accompanying oil trucks from al-Dura refinery to the refinery at Beiji.

The captain said 11 people were killed and 37, mostly civilians, were wounded.

He said police had found a vehicle with an unexploded bomb near the scene of the blasts and they were working on dismantling the explosive.

Target

A police officer said he thought the convoy he was travelling in was targeted.

"We were cutting through the traffic jam when a car in the middle of the crowded street blew up. We crossed over to the other side to avoid the traffic jam and another car tried to cross ... but flipped over and when it did it also blew up," said Abbas Jhudier.

"The first car was in the middle of the traffic jam and caused a lot of casualties," he added.

An official at nearby Yarmuk hospital said about 20 people had been brought in with injuries. Several other wounded people were taken to another hospital.

The blasts took place at about 10am (0600 GMT) and sent a black plume of smoke over the Iraqi capital.

Police attacked

In the northern oil city of Kirkuk, three Iraqi police officers were killed and four people wounded when armed men attacked a new police station, police said.

The attack happened at about 8am (0400 GMT) when police were preparing to go for a patrol in the southern neighbourhood of Adala, said police Colonel Munis Ishak.

The police station had opened seven days ago, he said, adding that one of the wounded was a civilian.

Twelve members of a special Iraqi oil facilities protection force were killed in a bomb attack north of Kirkuk on Wednesday.

In addition to strikes against security forces, the Kirkuk region is the scene of frequent attacks against vital oil facilities and violence among its three main ethnic communities: Sunni Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen.

Also on Thursday morning, a car bomb exploded near a US military post in the northern city of Tikrit, Aljazeera learned. Officials in Salah al-Din governorate targeted a building used by US forces.

No casualties were reported.

PHOTO CAPTION

An Iraqi policeman walks past destroyed vehicles after twin car bombs struck in Baghdad April 14, 2005. (Reuters)