Two Iraqi suicide car bombers trying to murder a local police chief and a US-supporting Sunni leader killed at least 18 people today.

AMERICAN and Iraqi troops swept the oil-rich region of Kirkuk for suspected insurgents and captured dozens, while drive-by shootings, roadside bombings and sectarian violence killed at least 29 people in Iraq yesterday.

Suspected insurgents killed three Iraqi policemen and wounded another in a drive-by shooting in west Baghdad this morning.