A wave of a dozen car bombings hit in and around the Iraqi capital during morning rush hour today, officials said, killing at least 36 people in the latest co-ordinated attack by insurgents determined to undermine the government.

A suicide bomber has blown himself up at a lunch hosted by a Sunni candidate in Iraq’s upcoming regional elections, killing 20 people, officials said.

At least 22 people have been killed in a series of explosions and a gunbattle in central Baghdad.

A series of car bombs exploded within minutes of each other as Iraqis were out shopping in and around Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least 35 people in mainly Shiite areas.

A series of car bombs exploded within minutes of each other in and around Baghdad today, killing at least 28 people and wounding dozens in overwhelmingly Shiite areas.

Bombings and shootings killed more than 32 people across Iraq yesterday, underscoring the government’s struggle with a stubborn insurgency more than nine months after the last US troops withdrew.

Insurgents killed at least 64 people in a wave of attacks against Iraqi security forces today.

Al-Qaida’s front group in Iraq has claimed responsibility for dozens of deadly attacks in the Sunni-dominated western Anbar province this summer.

Militants have downed an Iraqi army helicopter and killed nearly a dozen security forces in overnight clashes in what appeared to be an al-Qaida surge to retake one of its former strongholds in Iraq.

Eighteen people were killed and more than 50 injured when bombs struck two Sunni towns at sundown, just as Iraqis were preparing to break their holy day’s fast.

Al-Qaida's front group in Iraq has claimed the latest wave of bloody attacks that killed 46 people in eight cities nationwide.

Iraq’s al-Qaida branch has claimed responsibility for the wave of bombings and other attacks that killed dozens in Baghdad and across the country.

An al-Qaida front group in Iraq has claimed responsibility for the wave of attacks in Baghdad last Thursday that killed 69 people.

Ten soldiers were killed and 29 other people injured when a suicide bomber blew up his booby-trapped car outside an Iraqi army battalion headquarters in the country’s east today.

Anti-government protesters were angered today by a warning from Egypt’s vice president Omar Suleiman that unless they joined talks the country could fall to a coup.

Two car bombs tore through car parks packed with Shia pilgrims today in an Iraqi holy city, pushing the death toll from a week of attacks to more than 170.

A car bomb killed six pilgrims today in the latest deadly attack on Shias on their way to mark religious rituals in a holy Iraqi city, police and hospital officials said.

Two suicide bombers blew themselves up and killed seven people today at the government compound in the Iraqi city of Ramadi, local officials said.

Iraqi Christians cancelled Christmas festivities across the country today as al-Qaida insurgents threatened more attacks on their community.

Al Qaida has threatened more attacks on Christians in Iraq following a siege at a Baghdad church that left 58 people dead.

Al Qaida’s front group in Iraq today threatened more attacks on Christians after a bloody siege on a Baghdad church earlier this week.

IRAQ’S dwindling Christian community was grieving and afraid yesterday after militants seized a Baghdad church during evening Mass, held the congregation hostage and triggered a raid by Iraqi security forces.

Iraq’s dwindling Christian community was in mourning today after terrorists seized a Baghdad church during evening Mass leading to a gun battle which left at least 52 people dead.

The death toll from the bloody siege of a Baghdad church rose to 52 today, with dozens more injured, Iraqi officials said.

Islamic militants held around 120 Iraqi Christians hostage for nearly four hours in a church before security forces stormed the building and freed them, ending a stand-off that left many dead.

A suicide attacker drove a bomb-laden minibus into the entrance of an Iraqi army base near Saddam Hussein’s home town today, setting off an explosion that killed four soldiers and wounded 10 others, police said.

An al-Qaida front group in Iraq declared in a statement posted on the internet today that its two top figures have been killed.

Thousands of Iraqis marched through the city of Najaf today for an annual march to mark the anniversary of the fall of Baghdad.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates flew to Iraq today to meet Iraqi officials amid a wave of bombings which have killed 127 people and rattled the country’s government.

Al-Qaida’s umbrella group in Iraq claimed responsibility today for the co-ordinated Baghdad bombings that killed 127 people and wounded more than 500.

AN al-Qaida linked group claimed responsibility for the twin suicide bombings in the heart of Baghdad that killed at least 155 people as Iraq’s political leadership yesterday stepped up efforts to agree on new voting guidelines ahead of January elections.

Al-Qaida’s umbrella group in Iraq has claimed responsibility for twin suicide bombings in the heart of Baghdad that killed at least 155 people, including 24 children trapped in a bus.

A suicide bomber attacked a meeting today of pro-government Sunni sheikhs west of Baghdad, killing at least 23 people, including three US Marines.

Osama bin Laden warned Iraq’s Sunni Arabs against joining tribal councils fighting al-Qaida or participating in any unity government in a new audio tape posted on the web today.

US TROOPS killed 11 members of a Mahdi army splinter group yesterday, US officials said. The military also announced that it had detained two more suspects in the capture of three US soldiers earlier this year.

The purported leader of al-Qaida’s umbrella group in Iraq has confirmed the death of a top militant who the US military said was killed in an attack last month, according to a new audiotape.

An al-Qaida front group today lashed out at a key nationalist Sunni Muslim insurgent faction in a rare criticism of a fellow rebel group, accusing it of betraying religion by joining the US forces in their fight against al-Qaida.

An al-Qaida umbrella group in Iraq posted a video tape today showing the killing of five kidnapped Iraqi army officers.

An al-Qaida-linked insurgent group has posted a video it claims shows the body of a US pilot killed in Iraq last year, a photograph of his identification card and brief footage of his aircraft’s wreckage site.

An al-Qaida front group today claimed it had murdered a US Embassy employee in Baghdad.

An al-Qaida umbrella group in Iraq today denied that US troops had captured the highest ranking Iraqi in the leadership of al-Qaida in Iraq.

The highest-ranking Iraqi in the leadership of al-Qaida in Iraq has been arrested, the US command said today.

Al-Qaida’s Number two, Ayman al-Zawahri, has issued a new video tape calling on Muslims to unite in jihad, or holy war, and support the Islamist movement in Iraq, a US-based intelligence monitoring group said today.

An al-Qaida front group broadcast a video in Iraq today showing dozens of masked men singing religious and patriotic songs and brandishing automatic weapons as they praised Osama bin Laden and the leader of the Taliban.