Bombs ripped through crowds of Iraqi shoppers stocking up on sweets and other delicacies ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, killing at least five people, police said today.

US President George Bush reviewed Iraq strategy with his top commanders and national security advisers, but indicated little inclination for major changes to an increasingly divisive policy.

Afghan officials were today playing down a deadly shooting outside the American embassy in Kabul in which US Marines killed at least three Afghan troops.

US troops shot dead four Afghan soldiers and wounded four others outside the US Embassy in Kabul yesterday when they mistakenly thought they were about to come under attack, Afghan officials said.