BAGHDAD — Two suicide bombers blew themselves up at a busy street market in central Baghdad on Monday, in back-to-back explosions that killed at least 38 people, Iraqi health and police officials said.

The attackers struck during rush hour in the city's Tayran Square, which is usually crowded by laborers seeking work. The twin explosions also wounded at least 105 people, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Earlier reports by spokesmen from the Health Ministry and the Interior Ministry had 26 killed and at least 16 dead, respectively, and dozens wounded.

Ambulances rushed to the scene as security forces sealed off the area with yellow tape. Slippers could be seen scattered about on the blood-stained pavement as cleaners hurried to clear the debris. Photographs posted on social media showed lifeless bodies and pieces of limbs.

The twin explosions shocked residents in the Iraqi capital because large attacks had decreased significantly in Baghdad and other parts of country since security forces retook nearly all territory once held by the Daesh (the so-called IS) militants.

Tayran Square is a bustling commercial center and a place where day laborers gather in the early morning waiting for jobs. It has been the site of deadly attacks in the past.

Security forces cordoned off the scene of the bombing as ambulances gathered in the area.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi held an emergency meeting with the Joint Operations Command and intelligence officials after the bombing, his office said, asking them to "eliminate IS sleeper cells and protect the security of civilians".

In December, the government announced the "end of the war" against IS, which has been expelled from the Baghdad region and urban areas of Iraq that it controlled.

Jihadist elements are still active however.

On Saturday, a suicide bomb attack near a security checkpoint killed at least five people in northern Baghdad. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for that bombing.

The bombings come as Iraq gears up for elections in May.

Abadi has said he will stand for re-election in the parliamentary polls as the head of a new coalition.

Abadi's newly created "Victory Alliance" will compete against the "State of Law" bloc of Nuri Al-Maliki, his predecessor and a key rival who now holds the post of vice president.

Both Abadi and Maliki are members of the Shiite Dawa party.

Abadi was little known when he became premier three years ago, after Maliki ceded power to him in August 2014 amid IS's sweeping offensive across the country.

Since taking over, Abadi has also rebuilt the armed forces and taken back disputed areas in the north from the Kurds, dashing their hopes for independence.

He has also succeeded in convincing the Hashed Al-Shaabi, a Shiite-dominated paramilitary force that helped fight IS, to join his "Victory Alliance".

The Hashed, or Popular Mobilization Units, are now seeking to become a key political player in Iraq after proving to be a formidable force on the battlefield.

In November, IS claimed an attack by suicide bombers on a market on the outskirts of Baghdad that killed 11 people. — Agencies