Militants exploded three bombs today in the Iraqi capital, killing at least one civilian and wounding eight others, officials said of the latest in a string of deadly attacks across Baghdad.

Hundreds of US and Iraqi forces today launched their biggest Baghdad raid in recent weeks, moving on foot through a central neighbourhood and rounding up dozens of suspected insurgents, the military said.

Militants in Iraq have kidnapped a Pakistani diplomat, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said today.

A Pakistani diplomat has gone missing in Iraq, a senior government official said today, amid fears that he might have been kidnapped.