Iraq was rocked by two suicide bombings which killed 76 people and wounded some 120 others on Thursday as the security forces announced the capture of a suspected top leader of al-Qaida in Iraq network.

The most deadly attack occurred near the town of Maqdadiyah, some 100 km northeast of Baghdad, in the volatile province of Diyala, when a suicide bomber struck Iranian Shiite pilgrims inside a restaurant during lunch time.

Residents gather at the site of a suicide bombing in Baghdad April 23, 2009. A suicide bomber wearing a vest stuffed with explosives blew himself up in a group of police distributing relief supplies in Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 28 people and wounding 50, Iraqi police said.[Xinhua]

About 48 people were killed, during which 43 are Iranian pilgrims taking a rest in the restaurant after they crossed the border through the Mundhriyah border point in Diyala to visit the holy Shiite shrines in Iraq, a provincial police source said.

Up to 70 others were wounded, 50 of them Iranians, the source said on condition of anonymity.

Two Iraqi policemen inspect a suicide bomb scene in Duloiyah, Salahuddin, Iraq, April 23, 2009. A suicide bomber, around 20 years old, blew himself up in a local mosque, claiming the lives of four prayers and wounding ten others. [Shaalan Jubury/Xinhua]

The blast destroyed parts of the restaurant and badly damaged several civilian vehicles, he said.