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.

Iraq’s prime minister sharply criticised a US-Iraqi attack on a Shiite militia stronghold in Baghdad, exposing a rift with his American partners on security tactics, as 24 people were killed today in a series of bombings and shooting.

A series of bomb explosions in Baghdad today killed at least 20 people and injured 58, while armed robbers shot dead three people during a raid on a bank, police said.