Two car bombs have ripped through a crowded street in front of the Interior Ministry in central Baghdad, killing 18 people and wounding three dozen others.

The attack took place at about 10:00 AM (06:00 GMT) near a heavily fortified complex affiliated with the Interior Ministry in the Jadriyah neighborhood in southern Baghdad.

The al-Qaida terror network in Iraq says it has carried out the attack.

In a statement posted on the Internet, the group, headed by Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, says the attack targeted a patrol outside the office of Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib, who is in charge of the nation's police.

Al-Naqib was in his office at the time of the explosions, but was not injured. He came out afterward to examine the scorched road and blackened rubble left by the blast.

The ministry building was not damaged.

In Yarmouk Hospital near the blast scene, three civilians were pronounced dead, one of them a taxi driver, doctors told Xinhua. The hospital has received 26 wounded.

"I was walking in the street when I heard thunderous blasts and lost consciousness," said Ahmed Zeid, a young man who suffered bruises and burn.

Ali Abdullah, 28, was wounded in his right hand and his shirt was soaked by blood.

After receiving treatment at the hospital, he went back to the scene to have a look at his car but was barred from approaching.

"I saw policemen and civilians killed and a lot of cars damaged," he said, adding he believed more than 50 were wounded.

Seven civilian cars and two police vehicles could be seen charred and damaged as ambulances and firefighters rushed to the area, a Xinhua correspondent said.

Iraqi police and the multinational forces sealed off the area, and more than 20 US military vehicles were taking guard.

Earlier Thursday, a policeman said two powerful explosions rattled Baghdad. One was caused by a mortar round landed in the Green Zone, where Iraqi government institutions and US and British embassies are located.

The other explosion, which sounded more thunderous, could be triggered by a car bomb, said the police officer who refused to be identified, adding at least two civilians were wounded.

Two hours after the twin blasts, a third car packed with explosives was found and detonated under control, police said.

The apparently coordinated assaults were the latest in a spate of insurgent attacks against the fledgling Iraqi police and security forces, who are expected to take more security responsibility.

(Xinhua News Agency April 15, 2005)