Four car bombs exploded early Thursday in central Baghdad, killing 20 people and wounding some 50 others, police and witnesses said.

"Four coordinated car bombings took place early in the morning in Karada neighborhood, killing 20 people and injuring about 50 others," a police officer told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

The first car bomb detonated near the Shiite Husseiniyah Abdul- Rassul mosque, the second near Albu Jumaa mosque, and the third targeted a police patrol near a popular restaurant, while the fourth was a suicide car bombing which detonated near a male bath, the officer said.

Plumes of black smoke rose over the area as Iraqi and US troops cordoned off the southern district, the officer said, adding dozens of Iraqi soldiers were deployed in the mainly Shiite neighborhood and defused three more car bombs.

Insurgents have mounted fierce attacks since a Shiite-led government was formed in late April. Some 1,000 Iraqis and over 120 US soldiers were killed in two months' time.

Source: Xinhua