A car bomb hit a crowded bus station in a shopping area near a revered shine in the holy Shiite city of Karbala yesterday, killing 40 people and injuring 60 others, the state-run televisional-Iraqiya reported.

The blast occurred less than 200 meters from the holy shrine of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Islam's Prophet Mohammed, in Karbala, some 100 km south of Baghdad.

The television aired a footage showing several cars were ablaze and terrified people evacuating bodies and wounded people while the Iraqi security forces cordoned off the area for fear of more blasts could happen.

An Interior Ministry source put the death toll at 65 with more than 100 injured. But local hospital official said about 40 people were killed in the blast.

In southern Baghdad, a car bomb exploded near the entrance of the al-Jadriyah Bridge in Saydiyah neighborhood, leaving at least eight people killed and 11 others wounded, according to the Interior Ministry.

However, some media reports said at least 10 people were killed and 15 others wounded.

It was the second attack on a major bridge in Baghdad this week.

On Thursday morning, a suicide truck bombing hit the al-Sarafiya bridge in northern Baghdad, killing at least five people and wounding 18 others.

The huge explosion totally damaged the steel structure of the bridge, sending at least five civilian cars tumbling into the Tigris River.

Also on Saturday, gunmen attacked the home of Adnan al-Dulaimi, head of the Iraqi Accordance Front, in western Baghdad. Clashes broke out between gunmen and al-Dulaimi's guards, leaving five guards wounded.

The Iraqi Accordance Front, the largest Sunni bloc, has 44 seats in the parliament.

In addition, British forces killed eight militants laying roadside bombs in the Iraqi southern city of Basra, according to the British military.

Saturday's bloodshed came exactly two months after U.S.-led forces launched a security crackdown in Baghdad, which is seen as the last chance to avert a full-scale civil war in the country.

Some analysts said the absence of national reconciliation was the fundamental cause of violence in Iraq and the purpose of the ongoing security plan was to calm the capital and buy time for Iraqi politicians to meet some political goals.

Though sectarian attacks and assassinations have declined since the plan began, the capital was still plagued by car bombs and suicide attacks. Furthermore, the violence rose dramatically in others cities and towns near Baghdad.