The blast in the eastern city of Baqouba occurred one day after a suicide bomber killed 65 people in a crowd of police recruits in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. The attacks shattered the relative calm following last month's formation of a new government by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Although violence has dropped sharply since the highpoint of the war three years ago, the country is still plagued by smallscale attacks that have kept the country on edge and raised doubts about the capabilities of the security forces as American troops prepare to withdraw at the end of this year.
The attacks Tuesday and Wednesday occurred in areas of the country where Sunni insurgents have been active for years, underscoring the difficulties in restoring normalcy in a country that exploded into violence following the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam's regime in 2003.
In Wednesday's attack, the ambulance broke through the front gate of the Facilities Protection Service compound, which houses police posts and some training grounds for an Iraqi security force tasked with guarding government buildings.
The office of the Diyala provincial governor, Abdul-Nassir al-Mahdawi, said seven people were killed and 67 were wounded in the blast, which leveled part of a building.
Among the injured were children at a nearby kindergarten, according to Samira al-Shibli, a provincial spokeswoman. Other officials put the death toll as high as 13, reflecting the confusion that often accompanies accounts of major bombings in Iraq.
In an unrelated attack about an hour later, another suicide bomber detonated an explosive-packed vehicle near a group of Shiite pilgrims west of Baqouba as they were walking to holy sites to observe a major religious ritual next week.
At least one was killed and 15 were wounded, according to Duleir Hassan, a provincial councilman who oversees security issues. Other officials put the number of dead at two or three.
Among the wounded was the deputy head of the local provincial council, Sadiq al-Husseini, who was overseeing the services offered to the pilgrims.
Early reports said the bomber was on foot and detonated an explosive-filled vest. Later, Maj. Ghalib al-Karkhi, spokesman for Diyala police, said the bomber detonated a vehicle.
Shiite pilgrims are favorite targets for Sunni extremists who consider them heretics and heathens.
No group has taken responsibility for the latest attacks. But suicide operations are the signature attack of the Islamic State of Iraq, an al-Qaida front group. Baqouba and surrounding Diyala province were an al-Qaida stronghold until U.S. and Iraqi forces subdued the extremists in 2008.
On Monday, a suicide bomber tried to kill the governor of Anbar province in western Iraq. The governor escaped injury but one person in his convoy died.
The Tuesday attack in Tikrit was especially alarming not only because of the high death toll but the fact that the bomber managed to penetrate security around the recruits, who were searched as they entered the area where the blast occurred.
In a statement Wednesday, President Jalal Talabani urged the military and the police to bolster their own security around recruiting centers to "cleanse our cities of the remnants of terrorism."
Despite the latest attacks, al-Maliki expressed confidence in his country's security forces during a meeting Wednesday with visiting American lawmakers.
According to the government website, al-Maliki said Iraqi soldiers and police "now have the ability to counter any attack" and that their capabilities to guarantee stability is "increasing day by day."
Although the government was formed a month ago, al-Maliki has yet to appoint ministers of defense, interior or national security, leaving him in charge of Iraq's entire security force.
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Associated Press writers Lara Jakes in Baghdad and Sameer N. Yacoub in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report.
