Iraq's dramatic penalty shoot-out victory against South Korea on Wednesday sent thousands of jubilant fans cheering into the streets of Baghdad waving flags, singing and firing rifles wildly into the air.

While the majority of Iraqis from across the country's warring communities hailed the victory and enjoyed a rare moment of shared national joy, insurgent car bombers detonated two devices among the crowds.

A spokeswoman for the US division deployed in Baghdad, Captain Dawn Williams, said 50 Iraqi civilians and one policeman were killed in the blasts, 90 people were wounded and 18 vehicles destroyed.

Medics at the capital's Kindi, Yarmuk and Ibn Nafees hospitals reported treating 126 wounded from the attacks in the western Mansour and central Zayuna districts, along with two deaths from stray bullets.

Some of the bodies may have been removed from the scene directly, and Iraqi security officials gave higher estimated tolls. An interior ministry official said 58 people were killed, while a defence source said 53.

It was not clear who planted the bombs, but similar attacks have in the past been blamed on Sun insurgent groups such as Al-Qaeda's Iraqi affiliate, which kills to spread chaos and undermine the US-backed government.

Meanwhile, ten members of Iraq's security forces were killed yesterday, including five police who were hit by a roadside blast while patrolling south of Baghdad, according to security and medical officials.

Lieutenant Hamza al-Waeli of the Hilla Police told AFP that five members of a police task force were killed and two wounded by a roadside booby-trap near al-Dagharah, 120km south of the capital.

Dr Ali Al-Timimi of the Hilla Surgical Hospital confirmed that medics had received the bodies of five policemen and treated two who had been wounded.

Another five security force members were killed while conducting a joint raid against an alleged al-Qaeda stronghold just west of executed dictator Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit in northern Iraq, security officials said.

Two policemen and three Iraqi army soldiers were killed in the raid, including an army major, according to an Iraqi army officer in Tikrit who asked not to be identified. Another army officer was wounded in the fighting.

Iraq is in the grip of a series of overlapping civil conflicts between rival religious and political factions, while a violent insurgency is fighting to undermine the US-backed government and its attempts to restore order.