At least 45 people have been killed and 300 injured in a series of attacks near the government and diplomatic "Green Zone" in the centre of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, the police said. Witnesses said that the first suspected bomb blast on Wednesday went off near the foreign ministry and minutes later the second took place near the finance ministry.
Police sources told Al Jazeera that the blasts were caused by lorries loaded with explosives which had been parked close to the buildings.
Television footage showed that the force of the explosions had blown out some of the windows of Iraq's parliamentary building.
Two mortars also landed inside the heavily-protected area, while a third landed outside.
Security questioned
The area, the site of government ministries and foreign embassies, has frequently been targeted with rocket and mortar fire.
"These areas are supposed very secure ... it is not only checkpoints, you are always placing intelligence around this area to make it more secure," Ahmed Rushdi, a journalist in Baghdad, told Al Jazeera.
"How are you going to say to people that Baghdad is now secure if you have so many explosions in this area, that is supposed to be the most secure."Mortars also reportedly landed in the Salhiya district of central Baghdad, home to army bases and the offices of a national television station.Sa'ad Muttalibi, an advisor to the ministry of national dialogue and reconciliation, said: "This is the continutation of the evil plans of people who cannot see a stable, free Iraq and people with the intention of keeping American forces in Iraq after the agreement that was signed for the Americans to leave Iraq.
"I think that this escalation of violence in Iraq is totally unacceptable as it is effecting the ordinary citizens," he told Al Jazeera.
Despite a reduction in violence in recent months, attacks on security forces and civilians remain common in Baghdad and the northern cities of Mosul and Kirkuk.
The number of violent deaths fell by a third last month to 275 from 437 in June, following the pullout of US combat forces from urban areas at the end of the month.
According to Iraqi police, at least 95 people have been killed and half a thousand wounded after six explosions in Iraq's capital of Baghdad on Wednesday.

Eyewitness reports say that two main attacks targeted the finance and foreign ministries. Police sources say that the blasts, which were caused by vehicles filled with explosives, all took place within several minutes.

Major General Qassim Atta, spokesman for the national armed forces' operation in the capital, said that "a truck bomb went off near the Salhiyeh intersection and it caused casualties and a number of civilian cars were destroyed. We accuse the Baathist alliance of executing these terrorist operations."

As a result of the attacks, Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki called for a security review. "The criminal operations that happened today no doubt call for a re-evaluation of our plans and our security methods to face the terrorist challenges," he said.

The attacks are the deadliest in Baghdad since June 24, when 62 people died after a bomb on a motorcycle detonated.