A bomb exploded today in a predominantly Shiite area south-east of Baghdad, killing eight people and wounding 13 others, police and hospital officials said.

US and Iraqi forces, backed by Polish army helicopters, swept through Shiite militia strongholds south of Baghdad, rounding up dozens of militants and killing two.

A roadside bomb exploded near a minibus full of Shiite civilians today, killing at least three people and wounding nine as they went to visit relatives south of Baghdad, police said.

At least seven police officers were killed when a roadside bomb exploded near a patrol in a Shiite area south of Baghdad today.

Sporadic gunfire echoed through the centre of Karbala in Iraq early today after clashes between rival Shiite militias claimed up to 51 lives.

A parked car bomb exploded near a market in a predominantly Shiite area in Baghdad today, killing at least 21 people and wounding more than 60, police said.

A handful of Sunni mosques were attacked or burned today, but curfews and increased troop levels kept Iraq in relative calm a day after suspected al Qaida bombers toppled the towering minarets of a revered Shiite shrine.

The Fallujah city council chairman, a critic of al-Qaida who took the job after his three predecessors were assassinated, was killed today – the latest blow in a violent internal Sunni struggle for control of an insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad.

Iraqi forces backed by American soldiers swept into a troubled, predominantly Shiite city south of Baghdad before dawn today, and the US military said as many as six militia fighters had been killed.

Two policemen and two civilians were killed in separate incidents today in Baghdad, police said.

Apparently seeking to calm fears that he will not go after militia gunmen loyal to one of his key political backers, Iraqi prime minister Nouri Maliki said 400 fighters from the Mahdi Army had been arrested over the past several weeks.

A roadside bomb targeting an Iraqi-police patrol killed two pedestrians in eastern Baghdad today, police said.

At least 12 people were killed in violence around Iraq today, while authorities found the decapitated corpses of seven people dumped north of Baghdad in what appeared to be a sectarian revenge killing.

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

US and Iraqi forces clashed with Shi’ite militiamen yesterday in the southern city of Diwaniyah after a raid on the home of a leader of the Mahdi Army, which is accused of killing Sunnis.

At least 20 people were killed and 41 injured today in scattered violence around Iraq, including a mortar attack on the Health Ministry followed by a car bombing targeting a police patrol.

Coalition forces handed over control of Iraq’s armed forces command to the government today, a move US officials have hailed as a crucial milestone on the country’s difficult road to independence.

Six bomb attacks in Baghdad killed at least 17 people and wounded more than 50 today, hours before a highly anticipated ceremony in which the US-led coalition was to hand over control of the country’s armed forces command to Iraqi authorities.

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.

A SURGE in bloodshed left nearly 50 people dead in a suicide car bombing and clashes between Shi’ite militia and Iraqi security forces yesterday.

Shiite militiamen drove back Iraqi forces in a city south of Baghdad today in fierce street fighting that killed 40 people.

A surge in bloodshed left nearly 50 people dead in a suicide car bombing and clashes between Shiite militia and Iraqi security forces today, in a brutal contradiction of the prime minister’s claim that violence was decreasing.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki today promised to crack down on sectarian gangs in Basra and declared a month-long state of emergency in the southern city amid increasing violence in the restive region.

A British military helicopter crashed in Basra today, and Iraqis hurled stones at British troops and set fire to at least one armoured vehicle that rushed to the scene. Clashes broke out between British troops and Shiite militias, police and witnesses said.

A large explosion today destroyed the golden dome of one of Iraq’s most famous Shiite religious shrines, sending protesters pouring into the streets. It was the third major attack against Shiite targets in as many days.

The radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr (pictured) today called on his followers to end clashes with Shiite rivals so stalled talks on a new constitution can proceed.

A COMMERCIAL helicopter contracted by the US government was shot down by missile fire north of the Iraqi capital yesterday, killing at least 11 people, including six American contractors, officials said.

Attackers shot and killed the police chief of the central Iraqi town of Budayr early today, the Polish military said.

Iraq authorities have forcibly removed members of a hardline Shiite militia from a building they were illegally occupying in Najaf, the US military said today.

US troops have taken over operations at the Spanish military base in south-central Iraq as Spanish troops continue with their withdrawal from the country, the Defence Ministry in Madrid said today.

Iraqi security forces will not be ready to protect the country against insurgents by the June 30 handover of power, the top US administrator said – an assessment aimed at defending the continued heavy presence of US troops even after an Iraqi government takes over.

US troops killed dozens of insurgents near the Syrian border with Iraq after an ambush that left five Marines dead.

TEN US soldiers and as many as 30 insurgents were killed in fierce clashes around Iraq over the weekend as Spain vowed to pull its troops out of the coalition "as soon as possible".

Gunmen opened fire on the Spanish garrison near the holy city of Najaf today during a huge demonstration by followers of an anti-US Shi’ite Muslim cleric.

At least four Iraqis, including two soldiers, died and 30 people were injured during a protest outside a Spanish military garrison in the southern holy city of Najaf today, witnesses and a hospital worker said.

The top US commander in Iraq cast doubt today on whether Spain would withdraw its troops from Iraq, but added that if they did, the loss would not be “a significant military problem”.

An explosion in front of the offices of a Kurdish political party in the northern oil city of Kirkuk, killed four people, an official of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan said.

The US Air Force used some of the largest weapons in its inventory to attack targets in central Iraq as part of the escalating crackdown on suspected guerrilla strongholds.

Allied forces said they had bridged the Tigris river today, opening the way for the final ground assault on Baghdad.

Huge explosions echoed across Baghdad early today while south of the capital Saddam Hussein’s Republican Guard came under ferocious Allied bombardment and ground troops engaged in fierce street battles.

American soldiers on the road to Baghdad fought bloody street-to-street battles with Iraqi forces loyal to Saddam Hussein while coalition aircraft bombed southeastern Iraq to open the way for a possible new front in the crucial battle for Baghdad.

American marines took at least 20 Iraqi prisoners today during a firefight in and around the central town of Diwaniyah.