An American and three other foreigners were kidnapped from their Baghdad office today after “an exchange of fire”, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said.

Gunmen killed the deputy governor of Baghdad today on his way to work, Iraqi officials said.

Iraqi officials suspect that 50 US trained Iraqi soldiers murdered by insurgents – many of them execution-style – may have been set up by rebel infiltrators in their ranks.

A car bomb targeting a US military convoy exploded near the Australian Embassy in Baghdad, killing at least two people, police and the Iraqi Interior Ministry said.

THE bodies of about 50 Iraqi soldiers were discovered yesterday after apparently having been killed in an ambush by insurgents.

Around 50 Iraqi soldiers were killed execution-style after insurgents intercepted minibuses carrying them home on leave, officials said today.

A suicide car bomber detonated an explosion near a US patrol today, injuring two Iraqi policemen and two US soldiers along the main highway leading to Baghdad’s international airport, according to US and Iraqi officials.

Two policemen were injured when a car bomb exploded today along the main highway leading to Baghdad’s international airport, according to the Iraqi Interior Ministry and hospital officials.

American warplanes pounded the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah today after the city’s leaders suspended peace talks and rejected the Iraqi government’s demands to turn over terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

A car bomb exploded near a Baghdad police station today, killing one person and injuring at least 11 others.

TWO car bombs shook the capital in quick succession yesterday, killing at least 11 people, including an American soldier, and wounding 16.

Car bombers struck twice in rapid succession in the Iraqi capital today, killing at least 11 people including an American soldier and wounding at least 16.

Two car bombs shook Baghdad in quick succession today, killing at least eight Iraqis and wounding 16, police said. One American soldier was also injured.

A Baghdad hotel housing foreign contractors and journalists was struck by rockets this morning, drawing return fire and underscoring the precarious security situation in the heart of the Iraqi capital.

Loud explosions echoed through Baghdad this morning as a number of mortar rounds landed near government offices, the Interior Ministry and witnesses said. There was no immediate word on casualties.

A car bomb exploded near an entrance to Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone that is home to the US embassy and Iraqi government buildings today, killing at least 15 people and wounding 81.

A senior official of Iraq’s Sciences and Technology Ministry and a female employee of the ministry were assassinated today, the Interior Ministry said.

THREE bombs exploded at a neighbourhood celebration in western Baghdad yesterday, killing 35 children and seven adults, officials said.

Multiple explosions rocked a Baghdad district as a US military convoy was passing today, killing at least 37 people and wounding more than 50.

US and Iraqi forces clashed with insurgents on a main Baghdad thoroughfare today, the Interior Ministry said.

A roadside bomb exploded on a main Baghdad road early today, wounding three civilians, the Interior Ministry said.

A roadside bomb exploded on a main Baghdad thoroughfare early today, wounding three civilians, the Interior Ministry said.

A headless corpse was found in Baghdad today hours after an al-Qaida-linked group boasted it had killed a second American hostage, leaving the Briton they are holding to face execution.

A suicide attacker detonated a car bomb in a commercial district of western Baghdad today, killing at least six people and injuring 54, authorities said.

It has been reported that a decapitated body has been found in western Baghdad.

An explosion rocked a commercial district in western Baghdad today, killing one person and injuring 47, authorities said.

A loud explosion echoed across the Iraqi capital of Baghdad early today.

Two loud explosions shook the Iraqi capital of Baghdad today.

Intelligence agencies were scouring militant Islamic websites today for the first news of the fate of a young Briton and two Americans who were kidnapped in Baghdad yesterday.

SECURITY forces discovered three beheaded bodies yesterday on a road north of Baghdad.

The bodies of three beheaded men, believed to be foreigners, were found in northern Iraq today at about the same time as kidnappers freed a Turkish hostage.

MILITANTS pounded central Baghdad yesterday with one of their most intense mortar barrages ever, targeting the Green Zone.

Militants pounded central Baghdad today with one of their most intense mortar barrages ever, targeting the Green Zone and destroying a US vehicle along a major street.

Strong explosions shook central Baghdad early today, and fighting erupted on a major street in the heart of the city near the US-guarded Green Zone.

Najaf’s Shiite uprising appeared to be weakening today as Iraqi forces moved to within 200 yards of the revered Imam Ali Shrine.

Dozens of Iraqis today accused Fallujah police of handing over Shiite truck drivers to Sunni extremists who slaughtered them after they sought refuge at a police station.