A wave of suicide bombings rocked Iraq on Wednesday, leaving at least 50 people killed and scores of others wounded.

In former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, at least 27 people were killed and 70 others wounded when a suicide car bomb exploded in a small market near a police station on Wednesday, police said.

The bombing occurred at 7:15 am (0315 GMT) when security prevented the attacker from exploding the car in front of the police station. He then ran into a crowd of people at a small market nearby, police said.

A policeman was among the victims. About 69 civilians and one policeman were wounded, according to police.

In the town of Hawijah, southwest of Kirkuk, a man with explosives blew himself up outside an army recruitment center, killing at least 19 people and injuring dozens of others.

In the capital of Baghdad, two separate bombs went off, one outside a police station in the southern district of Dura and the other in the west of the city. At least three people were dead and 10 others wounded.

Violence showed no signs of let-up in Iraq as a pair of suicide bombers on Tuesday killed seven people in Baghdad and insurgents kidnapped a governor in a western province demanding US pullout.

On Friday, a suicide car bomber destroyed a police minibus at a checkpoint in Tikrit, 130 km north of Baghdad, killing at least eight people and wounding seven.

The attack prompted US forces to step up security in the city, and local police and officials to announce a new rule barring anyone from driving alone in Tikrit.