AFP - Twin suicide blasts in the western city of Ramadi on Wednesday killed 23 people and left the Anbar provincial governor wounded in the latest attacks against government targets to hit Iraq.

The co-ordinated bombings, which left a total of 30 people wounded, struck the governorate offices in the centre of Anbar's provincial capital and also killed and wounded senior security officials.

The first attack struck near a security checkpoint at a road junction leading to the governorate offices in the centre of the Anbar provincial capital at around 9:30 am (0630 GMT).

In addition to the dead and wounded, some 20 vehicle were destroyed in the blast.

About a half hour later, governor Qassim Mohammed Abid and senior provincial security officials, who were in the governorate offices, went outside to check on the situation.

"A suicide bomber wearing an army uniform ran towards the governor," police Captain Ahmed Mohammed al-Dulaimi told AFP.

"Some security people held him back, and he detonated himself."

The attack killed governorate compound security chief Colonel Mahmoud al-Fehdawi, and wounded Abid and Anbar deputy police chief Colonel Abbas Mohammed al-Dulaimi.

Captain Dulaimi added that Abid had suffered injuries to his arms and his legs.

"The latest toll is 23 dead and 30 wounded," said a doctor at Ramadi General Hospital, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"The governor is wounded. American forces came and took him for more treatment."

The US military declined to confirm that its troops took Abid to a US-run hospital when contacted by AFP.

No vehicles were allowed to enter or exit Ramadi in the aftermath of the bombings.

Wednesday's attacks were the latest co-ordinated bombings to hit government targets in Iraq in recent months, after similar blasts struck Baghdad in August, October and December, killing around 400 people in total.

The Baghdad attacks, which also wounded around 1,500 people, sparked public anger and spurred parliament to call in Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki for questioning.

Maliki has built his reputation on bringing security to Iraq, which was nearly engulfed by sectarian bloodshed in 2006 and 2007, and is aiming to retain his post in parliamentary elections on March 7.

The co-ordinated attacks in Ramadi on Wednesday also mirrored bombings in the provincial capital on October 11, when 19 people were killed and more than 80 wounded.

At the time, two bombs struck close to the offices of the governor, while a suicide bomber blew himself up shortly afterwards at Ramadi General Hospital, where victims had been rushed for treatment.

Ramadi, 100 kilometres (65 miles) west of Baghdad, was a key insurgent base in the aftermath of the US-led invasion of 2003.

Anbar, Iraq's biggest province, became the theatre of a brutal war focused on the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi, while several towns along the Euphrates river valley became insurgent strongholds and later safe havens for fighters.

But since 2006, local Sunni tribes have sided with the US military. Daily violence has dropped dramatically as Al-Qaeda fighters have been ejected from the region.

Although attacks have dropped markedly across the country compared to last year, violence remains high by international standards.

And while November saw the fewest deaths as a result of violence of any month since the invasion, December has seen higher death tolls, notably as a result of December 8 bombings in Baghdad that killed 127 people.