Insurgents killed at least 24 people in a wave of ambushes and bomb blasts in Baghdad today, the latest attacks in a surge of violence that has greeted the formation of a new Iraqi cabinet.
In the deadliest attack, a suicide bomber strapped with explosives blew himself up at an army recruitment centre at a former airfield in western Baghdad, killing at least 13 people and wounding 15.
Suicide bombers have repeatedly targeted crowds of Iraqis queuing up to join the security forces. Gunmen also ambushed a police convoy, shooting dead 10 policemen and then setting their vehicles ablaze, police said.
And a car bomb was detonated as the deputy interior minister's convoy drove past, killing one of his bodyguards and wounding six people, police said. The official was unhurt.
Over the past week guerrillas have stepped up their campaign of violence, defying predictions the insurgency would crumble following January 30th elections and the formation of a new cabinet.
Yesterday, a suicide bomber killed as many as 60 people in an attack on a Kurdish political party office and police recruitment centre in the northern town of Arbil, and a car bomb in southern Baghdad killed nine Iraqi soldiers.
Iraq's new cabinet was formally sworn in on Tuesday, a move Iraqi and US officials hoped would improve stability. But squabbling among competing factions had caused a three-month delay in installing the cabinet after the January polls.
Although a cabinet is finally in place, five portfolios have yet to be filled, including the defence and oil ministries, as rival political blocs continue to bicker. Government officials said decisions had been taken on who would take the oil, electricity and human rights ministries, and the full cabinet line-up would be announced as early tomorrow once a defence minister was agreed.