The No 2 US commander in Iraq today said a 7-month-old security operation has reduced violence by 50% in Baghdad but he acknowledged that civilians were still dying at too high a rate.

A parked car bomb exploded near a market in a predominantly Shiite area in Baghdad today, killing at least 21 people and wounding more than 60, police said.

A string of bombings killed 10 people in the Baghdad area today and the US announced a marine had died in fighting west of the Iraqi capital.

Militants struck back in their first major blow against a US-led security clampdown in Baghdad with car bombings that killed at least 63 people and left scores injured.