BAGHDAD: At least 36 people were killed and 71 wounded in three massive car bombings that targeted hotels in Baghdad today in an apparently co-ordinated attack less than six weeks from a general election.

Iraqi and US forces have warned of rising violence in the lead up to the March 7 vote, the second parliamentary ballot since the 2003 US-led invasion ousted Saddam Hussein but ushered in a deadly and long-lasting insurgency.

The first bomb struck near the Palestine and Sheraton hotels in Abu Nawaz, close to where a giant statue of Saddam was symbolically toppled almost seven years ago, at around 3:30 pm (1230 GMT). The second and third blasts just minutes later targeted the Babylon Hotel in the central district of Karrada and the Hamra hotel in Jadriyah, in the south of the capital.

Iraqi military spokesman in Baghdad Major General Qassim Atta said all three car bombs were suicide attacks.

An interior ministry official told AFP that 36 people had been killed and 71 were wounded.