US and Iraqi troops captured 84 suspects and destroyed a bomb-making facility in a series of raids in Iraq, the US military said today.

A pair of mortar rounds slammed into a football field while young men were playing a game in a Shiite district of Baghdad today, as more than 60 people were killed in attacks nationwide.

Iraqi militants killed 15 homebound police recruits and nine shoppers buying food for the feast to celebrate the end of Ramadan.

Iraqi militants today killed 15 homebound police recruits and nine shoppers buying food for the feast to celebrate the end of Ramadan.

Bombs ripped through crowds of Iraqi shoppers stocking up on sweets and other delicacies ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, killing at least five people, police said today.

Two suicide car-bombings, along with a string of other attacks in and around Baghdad today, have left 14 people dead, police and army officials said.

Insurgents targeted Iraqi and US forces with gunfire, suicide attacks and mortar rounds today, leaving at least six people dead – including a top anti-corruption official and a US soldier.

Leading Iraqi politicians have called for a six-month delay in the January 30 election because of the spiralling violence as US forces uncovered more bodies in the northern city of Mosul, apparent victims of an intimidation campaign by insurgents against Iraq’s fledgling security forces.

Two bodies, one with a severed head, were found early today south of Baghdad, police said.

A US soldier was killed and three others were wounded in an attack on their vehicle south of Baghdad, the military said today.

GUNMEN fired on a minibus yesterday, killing two Iraqi women who worked for the US-led coalition, and assailants in a southern city killed a coalition translator and critically injured another, police and witnesses said.

GUNMEN killed two journalists south of Baghdad yesterday, and militiamen loyal to a radical Shi’ite cleric dug in for a confrontation with US troops, clashing with soldiers in two holy cities.

Gunmen killed two journalists south of Baghdad today, and militiamen loyal to a radical Shiite cleric dug in for a confrontation with US troops, clashing with soldiers in two holy cities.

Gunmen shot dead a Polish and an Algerian journalist in a drive-by shooting south of Baghdad today.

US marines performed an abrupt U-turn today and prepared to hand the siege city of Fallujah over to an Iraqi army led by one of Saddam Hussein’s top generals.