The attack marked another devastating breach of security a day after three huge minibus bombs targeting hotels killed dozens in Iraq's capital, as violence spirals less than six weeks from the country's general election.

An interior ministry official, giving the toll -- five policemen and 13 civilians -- said all had died in the blast while most of the wounded were pulled from underneath the rubble of the building.

The attacker managed to evade tight security in the central neighbourhood of Karrada, where checkpoints are located at all the entrances and police conduct regular security searches.

Iraqi military spokesman in Baghdad Major General Qassim Atta said the attack targeted the forensics institute, which has been bombed twice before.

"At 10.45 am a suicide bomber raced his vehicle towards the institute" and blew it up, said Atta.

The interior ministry official said the blast wrecked the laboratory.

"The building collapsed soon after the explosion. Dozens of people usually work in the institute," he said.

On Monday three powerful and apparently coordinated minibus bombs targeted hotels in Baghdad, killing at least 36 people and wounding 71.

The top US army officer in Iraq said the military was warned a month ago of the tactics used in Monday's attacks.

"What happened was there was two cars," General Ray Odierno told reporters, referring to two of the hotel bombings.

"The first car came in with small arms fire, followed by the suicide bomber. We have not seen that before."

Odierno said it was yet to be proved but he believed the hotel bombs were the work of Al-Qaeda.

He dismissed the suggestion, however, that the attacks were linked to the Iraqi government's announcement that "Chemical Ali" Hassan al-Majid, a cousin and henchman of executed dictator Saddam Hussein had been hanged on Monday.

"In no way was this attack attached to Chemical Ali," he said.

Security concerns raised by this week's wave of bombings have been exacerbated by a controversy over the effectiveness of bomb detection devices bought from a British company and routinely used by Iraqi security forces.

The ADE651 hand-held devices were last week banned from export after British tests showed they were not suitable for bomb detection.

The director of the company that sells them was arrested on suspicion of fraud by misrepresentation by British police and later bailed. The Iraqi government has launched an investigation.

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

The recent unrest also comes amid a bitter row sparked by the exclusion of hundreds of candidates from the election because of their alleged links with Saddam, which could see Sunni Arabs marginalised from the political process.

The election is seen as a crucial step towards consolidating Iraq's democracy and securing a complete US military exit by the end of 2011, as planned. Odierno on Tuesday restated his fear of more unrest.

"I expect there will be other attempts between now and March 7 to conduct other high-profile attacks," he said. "We are focused on working with the government of Iraq to do the best we can to stop these attacks."

Nearly 400 people were killed and more than 1,000 were wounded last year in coordinated vehicle bombings at government buildings, including the ministries of finance, foreign affairs and justice in August, October and December.

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