A suicide truck bomber struck the provincial headquarters of an Iraqi police commando force north of Baghdad today, killing at least 10 troops and wounding 18 others, police said.

Gunmen in Iraq shot dead 47 civilians and left their bodies in a ditch near Baghdad today as militia battles and sectarian reprisals followed the bombing of a sacred Shiite shrine yesterday.

Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has been wounded in the fighting in Najaf, his spokesman said today.

Explosions and gunfire echoed across the holy city of Najaf today as the US military and Iraqi forces launched a full-scale assault to crush a weeklong uprising by militiamen loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Heavy gun battles are taking place in the holy city of Najaf today, as US forces prepare to launch a final assault on militia loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.