Baghdad bombings kill at least 157

At least 112 people were killed and 115 others wounded in the blast, said Raad Muhsin, an official at Al-Kindi Hospital where the victims were taken. A police official confirmed the toll.

The attack was one of four bombings in Baghdad on Wednesday, which killed at least 157 people in total, officials said.

A suicide bomber crashed into an Iraqi police checkpoint at an entrance to the Sadr City neighbourhood - the Iraqi capital's largest Shiite slum - killing at least 30 people and wounding 45, police said.

Elsewhere, a parked car exploded near a private hospital in the central neighbourhood of Karradah killing 11 people and wounding 13, police said.

The blast damaged the Abdul-Majid hospital and other nearby buildings.

The other explosion was from a bomb left on a minibus in the north-western Risafi area, killing four people and wounding six others, police said.

US officials had cited a slight decrease in sectarian killings in Baghdad since the US-Iraqi crackdown was launched on February 14. But the past week has seen several attacks on the capital, including a suicide bombing inside parliament and a powerful blast that collapsed a landmark bridge across the Tigris River.

"We've seen both inspiring progress and too much evidence that we still face many grave challenges," Major General William Caldwell, a US military spokesman, told reporters.

"We've always said securing Baghdad would not be easy."