The violence comes despite a massive security crackdown in the Iraqi capital and as the top US general in the war-torn country expressed confidence in Iraqi forces of being able to assume security responsibilities with little coalition support.
In the latest blast at least 24 people were killed and another 35 wounded in the Shurja market, the force of the explosion rattling windows one kilometre away.
Witnesses report that body parts were strewn across the area. Windows of nearby shops were shattered, two cars were ripped apart and a popular restaurant blown open.
Authorities said that the bomb had been placed in a bag and partially concealed by a bicycle.
"Firefighters are fighting to quell the fire as many shops are burning," a police officer said at the scene.
"People are gathering the mobile phones and money of those killed and storing them in a nearby mosque. They were also collecting flesh and body parts in plastic bags," he added.
Just two hours earlier insurgents attacked an Iraqi army recruitment centre in the Shi’ite town of Hilla, south of Baghdad, killing 12 volunteers and wounding 38.
Police also report that the rebels also used a bicycle to hide a bomb that exploded outside the centre, which was set up four days ago to boost enlistments by youths from the mainly Shi'ite areas around Samawa.
Iraqi forces nearly ready: General
General George Casey, the top US general in Iraq says he believes Iraqi forces can take over security for their country with little coalition support within a year to 18 months.
"I don't have a date, but I can see over the next 12 to 18 months, the Iraqi security forces progressing to a point where they can take on the security responsibilities for the country with very little coalition support," said in Baghdad.
The coalition has been training and equipping Iraqi forces and General Casey said they were now "75 per cent" along the path of being able to operate independently.
Although the US has made its handover strategy public, senior US officials rarely mention dates or details.
The overall strategy includes American and international forces handing over security control for specific regions and redeploying to larger bases, where they can act in a support or reserve role. A final future stage would involve the draw-down of troops from those bases.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has already said Iraqi army and police plan to take over security for all of Iraq's provinces within the next 18 months.
Carnage widens
The violence in Baghdad also extended to Dura, with the city's Yarmuk hospital having confirmed receiving seven bodies, including one of an Iraq army first lieutenant and a senior female official in the justice ministry, after shooting broke out.
Police said violence also erupted in the Diyala province, with at least 20 people killed, including seven from a single family who died in a roadside bombing against their minibus while on their way to a wedding party.
In Samawa, 250 kilometres south of Baghdad, two people were killed as volunteers seeking jobs in the army clashed with the police.