An American soldier accused of killing an Iraqi civilian then planting a gun on the body was suffering from sleep deprivation and too tired to know what he was doing, his lawyer claimed today.

The US military said today that it accidentally killed nine Iraqi civilians during an operation targeting al-Qaida in Iraq south of Baghdad.

Dozens of suspected al-Qaida militants stormed an Iraqi Shiite village north of Baghdad today, killing at least 13 people and torching homes, police said.

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 12 people were killed and 19 wounded when three parked cars exploded in a predominantly Shiite area of Baghdad today.

Iraqi prime minister Nouri Maliki condemned a US raid in Baghdad’s Shiite Sadr City slum – a politically sensitive district for him – in which American troops searching for Iranian-linked militants sparked a firefight that left 26 Iraqis dead.

A suicide car bomber struck an Iraqi army checkpoint south of Baghdad today, killing at least 12 soldiers and wounding 30, police said.

Iraq is heading in the right direction, but its leaders must understand US voters are increasingly impatient with the conflict according to departing US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad.

A British soldier was wounded when a roadside bomb hit his patrol in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.

At least four people were killed today when a parked car bomb struck a bus packed with workers in a volatile city south of Baghdad.

A suicide car bomber exploded at a checkpoint after guards opened fire as he approached a police station in Kirkuk today, killing eight people and wounding dozens, police said.

A suicide car bomb exploded at a checkpoint leading to a police station in Kirkuk today, killing three Iraqi policemen and wounding 30 people, police said.

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

Iraq’s largest Sunni-Arab political party today condemned a car bomb attack inside Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone that apparently attempted to kill Iraq’s controversial speaker of parliament.

Eight people died when a suicide car bomber hit an Iraqi army checkpoint today.

Two suicide bombers struck a police station south of Baghdad today, blowing themselves up in an attack that wounded 11 policemen and a female bystander.

More than 50 Iraqis died today in violence including a car bombing that killed 25 people in the third major attack on a police station in three days.

At least 35 people have died today in bombings, mostly in Baghdad and police have discovered more bodies as well.

A car bomb explosion at a major crimes unit in central Baghdad killed at least 15 people and wounded more than 30 today, said police Lieutenant Colonel Falah al-Mohammadawi.

Roadside bombs targeting police patrols exploded in Baghdad and nearby Iskandariyah today, killing at least five people and wounding a dozen others.

Suspected insurgents marked the third anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq today with roadside bombings that killed at least eight policemen, and authorities reported finding 15 more bullet-riddled bodies, one of them a 13-year-old girl, dumped in the capital and in the Tigris River south of Baghdad.

A SUICIDE bomber detonated an explosive belt yesterday in a line of Iraqis waiting to receive government payments, killing eight people and wounding about 30, including children, police said.

A suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt today in a line of Iraqis waiting to receive government payments, killing 10 people and wounding about 40, including children, police said.

A suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt today in a line of people waiting to receive government payments, killing six other people and wounding about 30, including children.

Suspected insurgents disguised as policemen shot and killed five teachers in a classroom of an elementary school south of Baghdad today, police said.

A leading Sunni cleric called for religious and ethnic groups to take a stand against violence as Iraq endured a third consecutive day of sectarian killings - the worst, a suicide car bombing at a Shiite mosque that killed at least 12 worshippers.

A suicide car bomber struck worshippers leaving a Shiite mosque in Tuz Khormato in northern Iraq today, killing at least 10 people and wounding 21 others.

Three US soldiers were killed in action in clashes in Baghdad and a city south of the capital, the US military said today.

Nearly 40 people have died in a rash of car bombings in Iraq’s capital in the space of 12 hours, including four co-ordinated blasts early today in central Baghdad that killed 15 and wounded 28 more, police said.

An attack by a suicide car bomber near an American patrol in southern Baghdad killed two US soldiers and wounded four, an official said today.

Shiite Muslims, many kneeling in prayer, were attacked in their mosques and on the streets on the eve of their holiest day, with five bombings killing 36 people in the deadliest day in Iraq since the January 30 national elections.

Eleven Iraqis and a US Marine were killed in election violence today as insurgents clashed with US troops and blew up a school slated to serve as a polling centre.

US forces pounded parts of Fallujah from the air and ground yesterday, targeting insurgents in a city where American forces were said to be gearing up for a major offensive.

An Iraqi National Guard patrol was hit by a car bomb in central Iraq today, killing at least three people, Iraqi officials said.

Eight American Marines were killed in fighting west of Baghdad today, and a car bomb killed at least seven people in an attack on an Arab television station in the capital.

US troops today pounded the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah with airstrikes and tank fire, as the Iraqi government appealed to residents to expel “foreign terrorists” to prevent an all-out attack.

A car bomb exploded today outside an army recruiting centre in central Baghdad where dozens of Iraqis were lining up to volunteer for the military, killing around 25 people, the US command said.

A suicide bomber killed at least 50 people when he blew up his truck outside an Iraqi police station where dozens of men were queuing up to apply for jobs today.

A suicide bomber killed at least 50 people when he blew up his truck outside an Iraqi police station where dozens of men were queuing up to apply for jobs.

More than 45 people were reported killed and 150 injured when a car bomb blew up outside a police station in a town 30 miles south of Baghdad today.

Three United States soldiers were killed and three others wounded tonight when a roadside bomb exploded south of Baghdad, the US military said.

AN American military policeman was killed yesterday as a top American general met local leaders in Iraq’s most dangerous region to tell them attacks must stop.