Violence in Iraq kills 56

By Mariam Karouny and David Clarke

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Two suicide car bombs killed 22 people in northern Iraq on Tuesday in attacks targeting a police chief and a tribal leader working with U.S. forces, part of an upsurge in violence that killed 56 across the country.

The spate of attacks across Iraq, which also wounded nearly 120 people, marked one of the bloodiest days during the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Al Qaeda in Iraq has vowed to target officials and Sunni Arab tribal leaders who have joined the U.S. military to combat the Sunni Islamist group, pledging to ramp up attacks in Ramadan, which is expected to finish this weekend.

In Baghdad, guards escorting a convoy of vehicles opened fire on a car in the central district of Karrada, killing two women, the government said. A Dubai-based security company, Unity Resources Group, said one of its teams was involved in a shooting in Karrada but gave no details on casualties.

It was the second time a private contractor has been accused of killing Iraqi civilians in less than a month.

Anger at private security contractors is high in Iraq after a September 16 shooting involving U.S. firm Blackwater in which 17 people were killed. The latest shooting will likely heighten Iraqi calls for tighter controls over the scores of security firms in Iraq, which are immune from local law.

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Tuesday's shooting in Karrada was unprovoked.

"There has been an incident, an attack on civilians. Two Iraqi women were killed," Dabbagh said.