Three suicide car bombs have hit the centre of Iraq's capital, Baghdad, in quick succession, killing at least 41. The attacks, which injured more than 200 others, appear to have been aimed at foreign embassies. The bombings shatter a period of relative calm after last month's parliamentary elections.The first two bombs went off within about a minute of one another, in Mansour, a suburb on the western side of the city, housing many embassies. The Egyptian, German and Syrian missions were all affected by the blasts but the brunt of the explosions hit passers-by in the streets.Another minute, a third suicide bomber blew his car up near the Iranian embassy, closer to the city centre.. Here again, many people in nearby streets and buildings were among the dead and injured. The authorities in Baghdad say security forces shot and killed a man before he could detonate a fourth car bomb near the former Germany embassy, which is now a bank.Earlier, on Saturday, gunmen killed 25 people believed to be linked to Sunni militias opposing al-Qaeda in a village south of Baghdad.The attacks come at a sensitive moment, with politicians embroiled in trying to form a government. No-one claimed responsibility. Reports say, the attacks bore all the hallmarks of earlier bombings, for which the Islamic State in Iraq – the umbrella group for militant Sunni Islamist insurgents – took responsibility. It vowed to disrupt the general elections in March, which went ahead undeterred.