A suicide attacker set off explosives hidden beneath his clothing outside an Iraqi army recruitment centre in northwest Iraq today, at least killing 30 Iraqis and wounding 35, officials said.

Nearly 40 people have died in a rash of car bombings in Iraq’s capital in the space of 12 hours, including four co-ordinated blasts early today in central Baghdad that killed 15 and wounded 28 more, police said.

US troops killed 27 Iraqis who ambushed a tank patrol yesterday, after killing at least 70 at a guerrilla camp the day before, in the bloodiest clashes since US President George W Bush declared major combat over.