A car bomb exploded in an upscale shopping district of Baghdad today, killing at least six Iraqis and setting fire to an apartment building, in a surge of violence that has left at least 127 people dead since a new government was formed last week. A British soldier died in fighting in southern Iraq.

BRITISH forces in Iraq have shot and killed civilians, including an eight-year-old girl, in situations in which they were under no apparent threat, according to an Amnesty International report released yesterday.