A suicide bomber on Monday killed at least 20 people in an open-air market in the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar, police in nearby Mosul told Xinhua.

A man wearing an vest loaded with explosives blew himself up in the open-air market just before dark, killing at least 20 and wounding ten others, the police said on condition of anonymity, adding the death toll might rise.

There were no Iraqi or US-led security forces in the area at the time, the source said. No other details were immediately available.

Earlier, a suicide car bomber killed 13 people and wounded 10others, in the Sunni insurgent stronghold of Ramadi, 100 km west of Baghdad.

The suicide attacker blew up his explosive-laden car near a police recruitment center where many gathered to join the police, a local police source told Xinhua.

The recruitment building was also heavily damaged and the wounded were immediately sent to Ramadi Public Hospital, he added.

Ramadi, capital of the restive al-Anbar province, has frequently witnessed insurgent attacks targeting the US and Iraqi governmental forces.

(Xinhua News Agency September 19, 2006)