Iraqis suffered a day of "horrific" carnage yesterday when nearly 180 people were killed and more than 200 injured by an apparently co-ordinated wave of bomb explosions across Baghdad in defiance of the US army's surge to control the capital.

One car bomb alone in a Shia marketplace claimed the lives of 122 people and wounded 148.

A local shopkeeper said: "The street was transformed into a swimming pool of blood."

The terrorist attacks, believed to be by Sunni insurgents, came as Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki declared the Iraqi army and police would take total control of security from the American-led coalition by the end of the year.

They also overshadowed the positive sign of Britain handing over Maysan to local forces - the third of four provinces formerly under its control.

However, despite the carnage, Tony Blair's spokesman said: "I think the evidence on the ground in Baghdad is that progress is being made." He added that "determined efforts" were being made by insurgents "to counter that progress".

Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett condemned the fresh outbreak of violence as "horrific", saying: "This latest carnage in Baghdad is another appalling example of the lengths to which those who offer only death and destruction will go to in trying to undermine democracy in Iraq."

She added: "Such acts only strengthen our determination to continue to support the people and government of Iraq and underline the importance of the reconciliation process."

As coalition forces announced they would soon start using special equipment to foil car bombs in Baghdad, the insurgents' deadliest weapon, Major General William Caldwell, the US military spokesman, noted: "We've seen both inspiring progress and too much evidence we still face many grave challenges. We've always said securing Baghdad would not be easy."

The deadliest of yesterday's attacks, claiming the lives of many women and children, took place at Sadriyah market, a mainly Shia area in central Baghdad. A parked car exploded around 4pm local time.

One eyewitness said: "I saw dozens of dead bodies. Some people were burned alive inside minibuses. There were pieces of flesh all over the place."

Another man at the scene screamed hysterically: "Where's Maliki? Let him come and see what is happening here."

Last night Mr al Maliki ordered the arrest of the Iraqi army colonel who was in charge of security around the Sadriyah market.

An hour earlier, a suicide car-bomber crashed into an Iraqi police checkpoint at an entrance to Sadr City, the capital's big- gest Shia neighbourhood, kil- ling at least 41 people and wounding 76.

ln the central quarter of Karradah, a parked car exploded near a hospital, killing 11 people and wounding 13. The blast damaged the hospital and other nearby buildings.

The fourth explosion was from a bomb left on a minibus in the nearby Rusafi area, which killed four people and wounded six others.

Mr al Maliki is under growing pressure to say when the 150,000 foreign soldiers will leave.

On Monday, radical Shia cleric Moqtada al Sadr ordered six of his ministers to withdraw from the cabinet, demanding the Prime Minister set a timetable for coalition troop withdrawal.