The first bomb was hidden inside a produce truck allowing it to gain access to a popular market just north of the provincial capital.
RAMADI: A pair of suicide car bombs exploded on Monday in the western Iraqi city of Ramadi and claimed 20 lives, said Colonel Tareq al-Dulaimi, a senior security official from Al-Anbar province.
"Ten were killed in each explosion and both were from suicide car bombs," said Dulaimi, the head of internal security in the area.
The first bomb was hidden inside a produce truck allowing it to gain access to a popular market just north of the provincial capital.
"This cowardly terrorist attack from Al-Qaeda targeted civilians in a market place," Lieutenant Colonel Thamer Ahmed of the Iraqi emergency response team said.
"The criminals of Al-Qaeda are trying to destabilise security and they have nothing to do with Islam."
Around the officer smouldered the remains of several shops destroyed in the blast which also set fire to nearby parked cars.
The second bomb exploded 15 minutes later targeting cars queuing up at a police checkpoint two kilometres away. The US military said this bomb appeared to have been in a sedan.
Ahmed added that police had information that a third car bomb was somewhere roaming through the area.
"We are searching for it," he said.
The double bombing came after senior US commanders talked up Al-Anbar as a success story for the Iraqi government and its American allies in restoring peace to the war-torn country.
Last month, coalition commander General David Petraeus told reporters in Washington that "progress in Anbar is almost something that's breathtaking."
In recent months, an alliance of tribal leaders has been working with US forces against the Al-Qaeda-led insurgents, resulting in a dramatic drop in violent incidents in Ramadi.
US forces on the ground, nevertheless, remain cautious, warning that the insurgents will continue to carry out such operations for some time to come.
"Things are going better in Anbar compared to recent months, but I do not believe AQI (Al-Qaeda) will just give up the province," said Major Jeff Pool, public affairs officer for the US force in western Iraq.
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