More than 70 people have been killed when two bombs exploded in a mainly Shia market in Baghdad, while at least another 12 people have died in a separate bombing near the city of Baquba.

More than 150 people were also wounded in the Monday afternoon attacks in the centre of the Iraqi capital, Hakim al-Zamili, the deputy health minister, said.

The first blast in Baghdad occurred shortly after noon when a bomb left in a bag placed among the stalls of vendors selling DVDs and secondhand clothes exploded in the Bab al-Sharqi area.

It was followed almost immediately by a parked car bomb just meters away.

Al-Zameli said that 156 people were wounded in the Baghdad attacks and warned that his ministry's official death toll of 78 could rise further.

A few hours later at least 12 people were killed and more than 40 were wounded when a bomb exploded in a market in the village of Khalis, near Baquba.

The city of Baquba, 100kms northeast of Baghdad, has been the scene of heavy fighting between its Sunni and Shia inhabitants.

New US troops

George Bush, the US president, is sending more than 21,500 fresh US troops to Iraq to help the Iraqi government stop spiralling violence.

Around 17,500 of the reinforcements are to be deployed in Baghdad where sectarian violence between Shia death squads and Sunni car-bombers has been highest.

US generals have said that previous offensives in the capital failed because there were too few soldiers to hold neighbourhoods that had been cleared in house-to-house sweeps.

Also on Monday, CNN television reported that military sources have said that a US helicopter which killed 12 soldiers when it crashed on Saturday may have been brought down by an insurgent-fired missile.

Sunni stronghold sealed off
Early on Monday, Iraqi forces backed by US troops sealed off Adhimiya, a predominantly Sunni neighbourhood of Baghdad, but the defence ministry said this was not the start of a promised new offensive.

Residents of the area in northern Baghdad said Iraqi soldiers had set up checkpoints on roads leading into the area and were preventing motorists from passing through.

They said the operation followed several nights of shooting.

American troops in armoured Stryker vehicles was also seen, other witnesses said.

They reported seeing residents walking out of the district on foot towards a nearby highway to catch lifts from passing cars.

Photo caption

A relative mourns the dead outside Baghdad mortuary