Three US soldiers were killed by bombs in central Iraq today, the military said.

Two car bombs exploded near government offices in the Iraqi capital today, killing 18 and wounding three dozen as insurgent attacks against security forces left at least eight others dead.

Investigators are searching for clues today to determine why an RAF Hercules crashed in central Iraq, killing up to 15 British troops.

SOME 5,000 US and British troops with Iraqi commandos launched raids and arrested suspected insurgents yesterday in an offensive aimed at clearing a swathe of insurgent hotbeds south of Baghdad.

A mortar shell targeting an Iraqi police station in central Iraq fell short, killing two children in a nearby house.

A MILITANT group holding two Bulgarian truck drivers hostage in Iraq said last night it had executed one of them and planned to kill the other in 24 hours.

Poland may follow Spain’s example and pull its troops out of Iraq.

SHI'ITE Muslim militants were in full control of two key Iraqi cities yesterday as violence escalated and Sunni fighters killed a US marine in the battle for Fallujah.

A SERIES of roadside attacks in Iraq killed a local security officer and wounded at least 13 other people yesterday as insurgents mounted fresh strikes against Iraqis seen as collaborating with US forces.

A roadside bomb exploded next to a passing US military convoy in central Iraq today, and a second bomb went off when reinforcements arrived, damaging vehicles and inflicting several casualties, witnesses said.

American soldiers shot dead seven members of an armed gang trying to steal oil from a pipeline in central Iraq last night.

Several American soldiers were reportedly wounded today when a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at their armoured car in Baghdad.

SIX British soldiers died in southern Iraq yesterday, and an ambush on a patrol and a helicopter wounded at least eight others in one of the deadliest days for coalition forces since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

An American soldier was killed and five others were wounded in central Iraq today when they were hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, the US military said.

United States combat engineers have discovered a truck in central Iraq containing two Al Samoud missiles.

American troops fighting in central Iraq today captured several enemy fighters who said they were members of Saddam Hussein’s Republican Guard.

Iraqi opposition groups tonight called for a popular uprising to liberate the country from “dictatorship” and outlined a detailed plan for the future of Iraq.

Wall Street fluctuated and closed modestly lower tonight as investors reacted to disquieting developments in the war in Iraq. Traders also collected profits from Tuesday’s advance and last week’s big rally.

US troops found 3,000 chemical suits in a hospital in central Iraq, reinforcing American concerns that Saddam Hussein’s regime was prepared to use chemical weapons, a US general said today.

Iraqis: 78 dead. One killed in first night of attacks on Baghdad last Thursday.

Four US soldiers have been killed in central Iraq, a Sky News correspondent reported today.

Tony Blair, George Bush and Jose Maria Aznar have set the United Nations and Saddam Hussein a final deadline.