Gunmen raided the Baghdad offices of a new Sunni-Arab television station today, killing four guards and four technicians, police said.

The top US general in Iraq today said Iraqi forces should be able to take over security with little coalition support as early as next year, even as a bombing at a Baghdad market killed at least 24 people and dozens of others were slain around the country.

AT least two dozen bodies, many bearing signs of torture, were found dumped in Shi’ite areas of Baghdad yesterday, while the government almost doubled the death toll from clashes this week between militiamen and Iraqi forces, saying 73 people had died.

A pipeline carrying oil by-products exploded in a southern Iraqi city today, sparking a massive fire and killing 34 people and injuring another 45.