The attack occurred in a crowded Shiite neighborhood of the religiously mixed city, about 250 miles northwest of Baghdad. The powerful blast caused houses to collapse in the morning as many families were getting ready for the day, and officials said the death toll could rise.
"Rescue teams are still searching for casualties among the rubble," said Ali Abbo, the head of the human rights committee.
The attacker drove a dump truck filled with explosives and covered with a layer of gravel, Brig. Gen. Najim Abdullah said, adding that at least 19 children were among the 28 killed. At least 40 others were wounded, said Brig. Gen. Rahim al-Jibouri, commander of Tal Afar police.
Abbo said the hospital in Tal Afar had been filled to capacity, forcing the ambulances to take many victims to Dahuk, about 45 miles to the north.
Several residents said the area is heavily populated, with four families sharing the same house in some cases, and boys and girls were playing hopscotch and marbles outside the houses at the time of the explosion.
Sheik Mohammed Qassim, 52, said the explosion shifted the furniture in his house and smashed all his windows.
"We rushed outside to see a big cloud of dust and smoke and shrapnel covering the street," he said, adding that a 16-foot-wide hole was left in the street. He said he and his neighbors then began searching for survivors in the rubble with their own hands.
Within an hour of the attack, authorities had imposed a curfew on the city, he said.
In Baghdad, meanwhile, lawmakers said that five Cabinet ministers loyal to Iraq's first post-Saddam leader will boycott government meetings, further deepening the political crisis that threatens to swamp the administration of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
The boycott of the Iraqiya List ministers loyal to former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi leaves the government, at least temporarily, with no Sunni participants. It was a deep blow to al-Maliki's attempts to reconcile the country's majority Shiites and minority Sunnis and Kurds.
Iraqiya List lawmaker Iyad Jamal-Aldin said the Allawi bloc decided to boycott because al-Maliki has failed to respond to demands for political reform issued five months ago. He said the boycott was not tied to the decision last week by the top Sunni political bloc to pull its six ministers out of the 40-member Cabinet.
The Iraqi Accordance Front left the government Aug. 1 because of al-Maliki's failure to respond to a set of demands, including the release of security detainees not charged with specific crimes, the disbanding of militias and the participation of all groups represented in the government in dealing with security issues.
The latest boycott raises to 17 the number of government ministers who have either suspended membership or quit this year.
Also Monday, the United States and Iran held expert-level talks on security issues in Baghdad, more than two weeks after the ambassadors of the two archenemies agreed to establish a committee to discuss efforts to stabilize Iraq.
A U.S. Embassy spokesman, Lou Fintor, said the discussions were "frank and serious" and focused on the violence plaguing Iraq. "We agreed to continue our discussions at a date to be established through diplomatic channels," Fintor said.
Washington has accused Tehran of fueling the violence in Iraq by arming and training Shiite extremists, but it agreed during the July 24 ambassadorial talks to set up a security subcommittee to carry forward talks on restoring stability in the country.
Relations have been strained in recent months over Iran's nuclear program and support for radical militant groups like Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas, as well as by U.S. military maneuvers in the Persian Gulf.
Tehran's detention of four Iranian-Americans for allegedly conspiring against the government has further deepened tensions. Washington has called for their release and says the charges against them are false.
Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the U.S. second in command, said Sunday that rogue Shiite militiamen with Iranian weapons and training launched 73 percent of the attacks that killed or wounded American forces last month in Baghdad, nearly double the figure six months earlier.
Tehran has denied U.S. allegations that it is fueling the violence in Iraq.
In other violence, a U.S. soldier was killed and two were wounded Sunday during fighting in eastern Baghdad, the military said. Eastern Baghdad is predominantly Shiite and has seen frequent attacks on U.S. forces by Shiite militia fighters.
Elsewhere, 60 bodies were found in a mainly Sunni area that had been under the control of al-Qaida in Iraq west of Baqouba, according to a Diyala provincial police official. U.S. and Iraqi forces recently have touted successes in an operation aimed at restoring control in the volatile region northeast of Baghdad.
At least 29 people were killed or found dead in other parts of Iraq, according to police who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to disclose the information.
Meanwhile, authorities girded for a major Shiite pilgrimage later this week in Baghdad to commemorate the 8th century death of Imam Moussa ibn Jaafar al-Kadhim, one of the 12 principal Shiite saints who is buried in a mosque in the northern neighborhood of Kazimiyah.
The procession was struck by tragedy in 2005, when thousands of pilgrims panicked by rumors of a suicide bomber broke into a stampede on a bridge, leaving some 1,000 dead. Police later said no explosives were found on the bridge and poor crowd control and the climate of fear in Iraq were largely to blame. Sunni insurgents have often targeted such gatherings to foment sectarian war.
Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, an Iraqi military spokesman for Baghdad, said security forces would intensify checkpoints during this week's pilgrimage and marchers would be banned from carrying weapons, cell phones and even bags. It was not clear those restrictions would be enforced.
Al-Moussawi said the government was also considering a driving ban but had not made a decision.
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