A SERIES of bombings hit Baghdad, killing at least 69 people in the first big assault on Iraq’s capital since a sectarian crisis erupted within its government days after the US troop withdrawal.

A wave of 16 bombings ripped across Baghdad today, killing at least 69 people in the worst violence in Iraq for months.

A wave of bombings has hit Baghdad, killing at least 60 people in the worst violence Iraq has seen for months.

SUICIDE attackers detonated three car bombs near embassies in Baghdad yesterday, killing at least 42 people and wounding more than 200 in back-to-back bombings.

A series of explosions targeted voters across Baghdad killing at least 17 people today, heightening tension ahead of Sunday’s parliamentary elections.

A SERIES of blasts in Baghdad yesterday killed 95 people and wounded 536 in Iraq’s bloodiest day this year, renewing doubt over Iraqi forces’ ability to maintain security after US troops pulled out of urban areas.

BOMBS killed at least 21 people across Iraq yesterday, security officials said, two days after a suicide truck bomb in the north of the country killed 73 people in the deadliest attack for more than a year.

Two car bombs detonated in a Baghdad neighbourhood today, killing at least eight people.

A huge explosion rocked central Baghdad just before sunset today and a massive plume of black smoke was rising into the air along the east bank of the Tigris River.

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

At least six people died and 16 others were injured when a bomb planted in a van detonated outside a hotel in Baghdad today.

At least 19 people, including four soldiers, were killed in a suicide bombing today, as gunmen in military fatigues kidnapped 29 people, the latest victims of the violence and lawlessness sweeping Iraq, police said.

US warplanes pounded Fallujah today in what residents called the strongest attacks in months, as more than 10,000 American soldiers and Marines massed for an expected assault on the guerrilla stronghold.

A car bomb targeting a US military convoy exploded near the Australian Embassy in Baghdad, killing at least two people, police and the Iraqi Interior Ministry said.

A rocket hit a busy Baghdad area today killing at least one person and wounding eight, hospital officials and witnesses said.

MUSLIM gunmen sprayed bullets and lobbed grenades at a liquor store in central Baghdad yesterday before kidnapping the owner’s brother-in-law in the fifth such attack this week, staff and police said.

Heavy gunfire and explosions were heard today in the holy city of Karbala, where American troops are battling fighters loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Black smoke rose near the Imam Hussein shrine, one of the most sacred sites of Shia Islam.

A powerful car bomb destroyed a five-story Iraqi hotel housing foreigners in central Baghdad tonight, killing 27 people and leaving a jagged crater just days before the anniversary of the start of the Iraq war.

REBELS detonated a roadside bomb as a US convoy drove by in Baghdad yesterday, killing one Iraqi and wounding another, police said.

Rebels detonated a roadside bomb as a US convoy drove by in central Baghdad today, killing one Iraqi and wounding another, police said.

Rebels detonated a roadside bomb as a US convoy drove by a densely-populated residential area in central Baghdad today, killing one Iraqi and wounding another. No US troops were injured, witesses said.

One US soldier and two Iraqi children were killed when a bomb exploded on a crowded street in Baghdad today.

At least six rockets blasted holes today in a Baghdad hotel seen as a symbol of the US-led occupation.

Two Iraqi protesters were killed today when US troops opened fire during a demonstration outside the presidential compound in Baghdad.

Iraqi protesters said two people were killed today when US troops opened fire during a demonstration outside the presidential compound in Baghdad.