A parked car struck a convoy of Iraqi police commandos and gunmen opened fire on police on a foot patrol in a mostly Shiite neighbourhood in Baghdad today, police said, a day after gunmen stormed a senior Iraqi police officer’s home north-east of the capital.

A huge explosion detonated by a suicide attacker in a bomb-laden lorry tore through central Baqouba today, killing 51 people and injuring scores more.

A suicide attacker killed at least 30 people and injured more than 55 when he exploded a bomb-laden vehicle outside a central Baqouba police station today.

AMERICAN and Iraqi forces clashed with insurgents north of Baghdad early yesterday, killing 13 Iraqi militants, the US military said.