A suicide car bomber crashed his vehicle into a barrier outside a police building in central Iraq this morning, killing at least 13 people and wounding dozens more, officials said.

The US has condemned the coordinated bomb attacks in Baghdad today that have killed at least 121 people.

Three American soldiers were killed and nine others wounded in a Baghdad bombing today.

A suicide bomber struck Shiite pilgrims today on a main road south of Baghdad, killing at least 25 people and wounding 20, police said.

More than 25,000 Iraqis who fled to Syria have returned, the Iraqi Red Crescent said today.

Private American security guards should face trial over the shooting of 17 Iraqis, an official investigation has ruled.

At least nine Iraqi civilians were killed in bombings across Baghdad early today, according to police.

Iraq’s foreign minister today warned that a quick American military withdrawal from the country could lead to civil war and the collapse of the government, as pressure on the Bush administration for a pull-out grows.

Large explosions rocked the capital of Iraq today, apparently an artillery barrage in the south of the city.

A suicide truck bomber struck a police station in a mainly Sunni area of Baghdad today, killing at least 18 people, police said, as insurgents apparently step up their campaign against fellow Sunnis seen as collaborating with the US and the Iraqi government.

A suicide truck bomber struck a police station in a mainly Sunni area in southern Baghdad today, killing at least five people and wounding 17, police said.

Attacks on Shiite pilgrims continued today in Iraq, with a roadside bomb killing at least seven people in southern Baghdad.

Five Iraqis were killed when gunmen opened fire on Shiite pilgrims in two separate incidents in Baghdad today.

Eight people were killed in two car bombings today after a weekend of attacks left more than 130 people dead.

Two bombs exploded seconds apart in a predominantly Shiite commercial area in central Baghdad today, killing at least 78 people and wounding at least 156, said Iraqi police and Deputy Health Minister Hakim al-Zamili.

A British soldier was killed when a roadside bomb hit an army patrol in southern Iraq today.

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 series of explosions and shootings rocked Baghdad this morning, killing at least 19 people and wounding dozens, police have revealed.

A series of explosions rocked Baghdad this morning, killing at least nine people and wounding 26, police said.

Explosives planted in a car went off while police were trying to defuse them in Sadr City, killing two policemen and wounding four civilians, police said today amid reports that more car bombs were targeting the Shiite slum.

America’s outgoing No. 2 commander in Iraq has said that curbing unemployment and improving services would help reduce the violence in the country, warning that military muscle cannot win the war alone.

Iraqi security forces are doing everything they can to protect victims of sectarian violence in Baghdad, including families that are being driven from their homes in mixed neighbourhoods of Shiites and Sunni Arabs, a government official said today.

Scattered violence returned to Iraq’s capital today after a three-day curfew was lifted.

A curfew that had banned vehicles from Baghdad’s streets and closed its international airport to all civilian flights for three days was lifted today, clearing the way for Iraqi President Jalal Talabani to travel to Iran for an official visit.

The bodies of 14 Sunni Arabs who had been kidnapped from their homes in Baghdad by men disguised as policemen were found in the capital on this morning, Iraqi authorities said.

The US military has acknowledged that its two-month drive to crush insurgent and militia violence in the Iraqi capital Baghdad has fallen short, calling the raging bloodshed disheartening and saying it was rethinking its strategy to rein in gunmen, torturers and bombers.

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 attacked women picking vegetables in a field outside the Iraqi capital, killing six adults and two young girls and kidnapping two teenagers.

A US base in southern Baghdad was hit by a mortar round fired by insurgents, which set off a series of explosions from detonating tank and artillery shells that shook buildings miles away.

A fire at a US army base in Iraq set off a series of explosions by detonating tank and artillery shells, causing buildings miles away to shake.

A car bomb killed five people today and wounded another 34 after it exploded near a restaurant in central Baghdad, police said.

Two Iraqi soldiers were killed and 10 more injured early today when a suicide car bomb slammed into a checkpoint in northeast Baghdad, police said.

A suicide truck bomb crashed into a Baghdad police headquarters today, killing seven and wounding at least double that many in a deadly 24 hours that saw more than 45 killings in Iraq, including two American soldiers, authorities said.

A suicide truck bomb crashed into a police headquarters building in Baghdad today, destroying the building and killing seven policemen, police said.

Car bombs triggered gas explosions in a Shia neighbourhood of Baghdad, Iraq, two days ago, the US said today, acknowledging its U-turn and that the carnage had been due to a hostile act.

Residents dug through wrecked buildings today in a predominantly Shia neighbourhood of Baghdad, devastated by explosions that killed at least 47 people.

Car bombs and a rocket barrage struck a predominantly Shiite neighbourhood in Baghdad tonight, killing at least 47 people and wounding at least 148.

A bomb planted between a Sunni mosque and a youth centre exploded during prayers, killing four people and wounding another nine, police said.

A bomb struck a Sunni mosque in Baghdad after prayers today, killing seven people and wounding five, while mortars barraged a Shiite mosque north of the capital, leaving five wounded.

Gunmen in Baghdad intercepted a minivan apparently carrying a coffin to the Shiite holy city of Najaf today, killing all 10 people on board.

One of Iraq’s largest Sunni Arab groups endorsed the prime minister’s national reconciliation plan today, and the government announced new benefits to help freed detainees return to normal lives.

The Iraqi government declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew today after insurgent gunmen set up roadblocks in central Baghdad and opened fire on US and Iraqi troops just north of the heavily fortified Green Zone.

Gunmen seized 10 workers from a bakery today in a predominantly Shiite neighbourhood in Baghdad, while a car bomb in the northern city of Mosul killed one woman and wounded 19 other people, police said.

Early-morning bombings - including a blast that killed six when it struck a minivan of workers in southern Baghdad - continued today as US and Iraqi officials promised a crackdown on violence and sectarian attacks.