A wave of bomb attacks in Iraq today have left at least 44 people dead - many of them Iraqi soldiers, as insurgents pursued their campaign against security forces of the country’s coalition Government.

A massive roadside bomb killed 24 bus passengers, many of whom were soldiers travelling on a bus north of Baghdad between Tikrit and Baiji, a defence ministry spokesman said..

The army bus was hit about 13 miles north of the city. "The soldiers were travelling from Baghdad to Mosul on the highway to take up their duty there," Lieutenant Colonel Rabae Al-Kidawi told AFP.

Medics at the nearby Ibn al-Nafis Hospital were treating 25 wounded people. "We are overwhelmed," a medical official said.

A few hours later, a a bomb-laden car blew up near in the Karrada neighborhood of Baghdad, killing at least 10 people.

Troops had arrived at the al-Rafidein bank to collect their wages when the bomber struck. After the bomb was detonated, several severely damaged military vehicles lay among shattered shop windows, witnesses said.

Abdul Hassan Muhammed, a 62-year-old teacher said: "A big explosion slammed me four metres (12ft) into a wall. My friends took me to one of their stores, gave me water and asked me to relax... I didn't get my pension," he told Associated Press.

The attacks follow Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s Government vowing last week to rid Iraq of the "terrorists" which have brought tyranny to its streets since the end to Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003.

A car bomb also exploded Muqdadiyah, 60 miles northeast of Baghdad killing seven people and injuring 10, according to local police. The blast took place outside a police post and bus station in the area which has been plagued by sectarian violence.

Further north, two policeman were killed and two more wounded by a roadside bomb in the oil city of Kirkuk.

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