A suicide car bomb exploded outside an Iraqi police academy during a graduation ceremony today, killing 20 people amid a surge in violence ahead of a landmark election.

POLISH-LED coalition troops and Iraqi security forces arrested seven suspects and seized weapons in an operation in central Iraq, the military have said.

A SUICIDE car bomb exploded on a busy Iraqi street yesterday, killing at least 68 people - almost all civilians - in one of the deadliest single insurgent attacks since the US invasion.

A huge explosion detonated by a suicide attacker in a bomb-laden lorry tore through central Baqouba today, killing 51 people and injuring scores more.