Twin car bombs hit central Baghdad Tuesday, killing at least 19 people, and security forces fought off a separate attack inside a police station by two suicide bombers trying to free al-Qaeda prisoners.
The major assault underscored the seriousness of Iraq's struggle with insurgents more than seven months after the last U.S. troops left behind a country still grappling with political instability and sectarian tensions.
Clouds of dark smoke rose above the centre of the capital where the car bombs exploded minutes apart, leaving the dead and wounded lying in the street or slumped inside a damaged minibus, police said.
