BAGHDAD - Up to 63 people were killed and some 185 others wounded in a spate of bomb attacks across the Iraqi capital of Baghdad on Thursday morning, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua.

"Our latest reports put the toll at 63 killed and 185 wounded by the series of bomb attacks in Baghdad," the source said on condition of anonymity.

A total of four car bombs ripped through the capital in addition to ten roadside bombs and a rocket barrage that struck the capital during the morning rush hours in a first major indication of escalation of violence in the country after the complete withdrawal of US troops from the country.

The attacks struck the districts of Alawi, Karradah, Bab al- Muadham in central Baghdad, Shaab, Shulla, Adhamiyah in the north, Baiyaa, Amil, Amin, Doura, Abu Dsheer in southern Baghdad, Yarmouk, Harthiyah and Ghazaliah in the west.

Earlier, an official from the Iraqi Health Ministry told Xinhua that the attacks killed a total of 57 and wounded some 176 others, according to reports gathered from Baghdad hospitals.

Iraqi security forces blocked many main roads in the capital and dozens of police and army vehicles were deployed across the city, as sounds of sirens of ambulances and fire engines could be heard across the capital.

Sporadic attacks are common in Iraqi cities as the US troops fully withdrew from the country according to security pact signed earlier between Baghdad and Washington late in 2008.