Another 52 people were wounded in the blast near a Shia shrine, the bloodiest attack in Iraq since a landmark election on December 15 and the worst violence in Karbala, in almost two years.
The bloodshed came as an official from Iraq's electoral commission said that the long-awaited results of the parliamentary elections would be announced within four days, raising hope of an end to weeks of uncertainty following the ballot.
It followed a suicide bombing attack on Shias attending a funeral on Wednesday northwest of Baghdad in which 37 were killed and 45 wounded.
Ambulances rushed to a busy market area next to the Iman Hussein shrine in Karbala that lies 110 kilometers (70 miles) south of Baghdad and is one of the holiest cities for Shia Muslims, to ferry away the dead and wounded.
The suicide bomber, wearing up to eight kilos (17 pounds) of high explosives and a number of grenades, blew himself up at about 10:15 am (0715 GMT), police Colonel Abdel Razak Taai said.
Body parts and items of clothing lying in pools of blood were pictured on Iraqi television as stunned survivors - many of them street vendors and shoppers - were seen looking on in horror and confusion.
A man on a microphone called for people to be calm and not cluster together.
Ali Mussa, the director of one hospital, said that he had received 11 dead and 20 injured. Iranians pilgrims were among the casualties.
UPDATE (Jan 5): Shia leaders swiftly hit out at the US-led coalition on Thursday charging that its pressure for the security services to keep their gloves on in the fight against Sunni insurgents had allowed the string of deadly bombings against the majority community.
The Supreme Council of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a Shia religious party that was the largest faction in the outgoing parliament, also lashed out at Sunni parties which had cried foul after last month's elections, accusing them of playing into the hands of the bombers.
The attacks on Shia targets had been made possible by "strong pressure by the multinational force on the defense and interior ministries to stop them playing their role in fighting terrorists and protecting the lives of innocent Iraqis," the party charged.
It was referring to recent criticism by US commanders and the US embassy of policing, interrogation and detention methods used by Iraq's fledgling security services, which are controlled by Shia-led ministries.
Karbala has been relatively quiet for the past year but the peace was shattered on Wednesday when a car bomb exploded in the city, wounding two people.
Iraqi security forces took over full control of security in Karbala from US-led forces in September, but police said that the shrine had its own private security.
The last large-scale attack in Karbala occurred in December 2004 when 14 were killed and 57 wounded by a car bomb.
"Terrorism is once again on the march in the country in an attempt to spark civil war and chaos," an advisor to Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari said on television.
"The security situation is getting worse," Haider Al Abadi added before pointing to problems in the security services that he said had been infiltrated by insurgents.
In other violence four policemen were killed and four wounded when rebels attacked two patrols with small arms fire just outside Baquba, 60 kilometers northwest of Baghdad.
The US military reported that a suicide bomber attacked a police recruitment center in the restive western city of Ramadi.
"Initial reports indicate the suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest targeted the applicants," a statement said, adding that the number of casualties was not immediately known.
Anxious for an end to the bloodshed, US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair want Iraq to form a new government as quickly as possible.
They believe that this would improve security and stability on the ground and ultimately enable them to start withdrawing their troops later this year.
Abdel Hussein Al Hindawi, a member of the Iraqi electoral commission, said that a complete list of election results would be announced by Monday.
But he told AFP that it would take up to another fortnight before the results are fully certified with all the names of the new members of parliament.
First, the commission will release the outcome of its own probe into some 1,800 complaints made in the wake of the poll.
Next, it will publish the election results, announcing which parties, political groups or independent candidates have won all 275 seats that make up the Iraqi parliament.
This will be done "in the next two to three days - four days maximum", Hindawi said. "The final results will be published in about two weeks, hopefully before January 20," he said.
As for the work of independent foreign monitors sent to Iraq to review the election and complaints, it will continue separately to the commission's timetable.
The International Mission for Iraqi Elections is due to publish its findings of a review into the complaints within three weeks, but Hindawi said that there was "no need" for the commission to wait until then before making its announcement.
But a spokesman for a group of 50 parties and personalities that have complained of election fraud said that any announcement by the commission before the independent monitors finish their work would be illegal and irrational.
"We are against all announcements of the final, uncertified results before the experts finish their work, in order to safeguard the legality of the process," said Ali Al Tamini, a spokesman for the so-called Maram group.
He said that any election-related release beforehand "would consolidate our doubt about the honesty of the commission".
A Sunni-based alliance and a number of small secular parties, including the National List of former premier Ayad Allawi, have alleged widespread fraud in the election and threatened to boycott the new four-year parliament.
© 2005 Agence France-Presse
To add a comment,
Please log in:
Don't have an account?
Register now to comment on stories and stay up to date on important events and issues in the Middle East with our newsletter.