Deadliest day in Iraq for 18 months

Dozens of people have been killed and more than 500 hundred injured when a series of blasts hit the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

As many as 95 are thought to have been killed in the attacks making it the deadliest day in the country for 18 months. Truck bombs were detonated outside the foreign and finance ministries on the perimeter of the heavily fortified 'Green Zone'.

There were also several other bomb attacks in other districts of Baghdad and a barrage of mortars hit targets within the hitherto safe 'Green Zone'. It is rare for attacks such as these to hit such prominent targets in areas normally considered safe.

The truck bomb which exploded outside the foreign ministry created a 3m deep and 10m wide crater and sent a huge plume of smoke into the sky. A ministry employee said "The windows of the foreign ministry shattered, slaughtering the people inside,". She added "I could see ministry workers, journalists and security guards among the dead,"

Mustapha Muhie, who works close to the 'Green Zone' said ""Everybody on the street was going crazy...Everybody was just trying to get to their cars, just trying to get home - and that's what I did."

The Iraqi President Jalal Talabani released a statement saying "The terrorists are trying to rekindle the cycle of violence of previous years by creating an atmosphere of tension among the Iraqi people,"

The wave of attacks marks the sixth anniversary of the first attack after the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime, where 22 were killed in a suicide truck bombing at the UN headquarters in Baghdad. Following the first attack the UN declared 19th August World Humanitarian Day, to increase support for aid workers.