A series of attacks in Iraq have killed at least 43 people and wounded at least 94, police say.
A car bomb exploded in a small market near a police station in Tikrit, killing at least 24 people and wounding more than 60.
Police Lieutenant-Colonel Saad Daham said when security prevented the attacker from exploding the vehicle in front of the station in Saddam Hussein's hometown on Wednesday, he swerved into a crowd of people at the nearby market.
It was 7.15am (0315 GMT), and many day labourers who had travelled to Tikrit from poorer areas of Iraq were waiting at the market to be picked up for work at local construction sites, Daham said.
He said at least 23 civilians and one policeman were killed, and 69 civilians and one policeman wounded.
At Tikrit general hospital, Dr Faisal Mahmud said the facility was too small to handle so many casualties.
Tikrit, 130km north of Baghdad, has been the scene of growing unrest since the US-led invasion of Iraq more than two years ago.
More attacks
Elsewhere on Wednesday, a bomber strapped with explosives walked into an army recruitment centre and blew himself up in the Iraqi town of Hawija, 240km north of Baghdad, killing 19 people and wounding 25, police said.
In another attack, a car bomb exploded outside a police station in southern Baghdad. There were many casualties, police said.
They said a large number of wounded had been taken to hospital following the blast in the southern suburb of Dora.
New regulation
On Friday, a car bomber driving a vehicle disguised as a taxi destroyed a police minibus at a checkpoint in Tikrit, killing at least eight people and wounding seven, officials said.
That prompted US forces to step up security in the city and local police and officials to announce a new rule that bars anyone from driving alone in Tikrit.
The regulation was designed to make it easier for security forces to spot car bombers, who generally act by themselves, before they race to a location and set off the explosives.
It was not immediately clear why the regulation did not help to prevent Wednesday's attack.
PHOTO CAPTION
An injured Iraqi man gestures after a car bomb exploded in central Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, May 10, 2005. (AP)