Years ago, Saddam Hussein's government began building the school near Abdel-Qadir al-Qeilani, a famous Sunni shrine that is visited by thousands of Sunni Muslims from around the region, but the school was left unfinished after the invasion.

Australia's government announced Monday that it will send a fresh team of troops to southern Iraq to replace forces protecting a Japanese military reconstruction team in the region. Defense Minister Brendan Nelson said 470 Australian troops would be sent to the al-Muthana province when the current Australian task force ends its six-month tour of duty in coming weeks.

It remains unclear when the Japanese forces will leave Iraq, but if they leave before the fresh Australian troops' tour is completed, Australia likely will deploy them elsewhere in Iraq. Speculation has been strong that Japan may start withdrawing its soldiers this spring.

Monday's violence in Iraq came at a time of rising attacks by insurgents and sectarian violence involving Sunnis and Shiites.

On Sunday, car bombs killed at least 16 people and wounded dozens in Baghdad and the Shiite holy city of Karbala, casting doubt on U.S. hopes that the formation of a new government alone would provide a quick end to the country's violence.

At least 26 others were killed or found dead that day, including a U.S. Marine wounded in the insurgent bastion of Anbar province in western Iraq, police and the U.S. military said.

Some of the victims appeared to have been abducted and killed by sectarian "death squads" that target members of the rival religious communities.

The framework of Iraq's new unity government was put in place last month with the selection of a president, vice presidents, prime minister and parliament speaker. Incoming Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, hopes to present his Cabinet to parliament by Wednesday.

However, a top Shiite official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the deliberations, said al-Maliki would probably not meet that target because of differences among the parties over who will run the ministries of interior and defense. Those posts control the police and army, and coalition officials have insisted that the new ministers have no ties to militias believed responsible for kidnappings and killings of civilians.