At least 22 Iraqis, eight US troops and one Salvadoran soldier died in one of the worst days of violence in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein

A SUICIDE bomber killed at least six Iraqis and injured dozens in an attack at a Baghdad hotel used by US officials yesterday, shaking buildings and shattering windows blocks away, the US military said.

Thousands of Iraqi’s today ignored Saddam Hussein’s exaltations to stay and fight and were fleeing Baghdad in a stream of bumper-to-bumper vehicles after US troops seized the capital’s airport.

AN intelligence tip helped special operations forces identify Army Private First Class Jessica Lynch, aged 19, as being held

Huge explosions rocked the heart of the Iraqi capital tonight, sending huge clouds of smoke over a building in the centre of the city and around the presidential Old Palace compound across the Tigris River.

US FORCES will surround Baghdad within five to 10 days but are destined to spend months embroiled in savage street fighting, the Iraqi regime predicted last night.

DESPERATE families were scooping up puddles from the war-torn streets of Basra yesterday as a chronic water shortage worsened their plight.