Gunmen stormed the compound of a Saudi company in a fashionable Baghdad neighbourhood, seizing an American, a Nepalese and four Iraqis after a gun battle in which a guard and one of the attackers were killed.

Gunmen assassinated Baghdad’s deputy governor today as a fresh brigade of American soldiers arrived in the capital – reinforcements that will push US military strength in Iraq to its highest level since the summer of 2003.

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