Three people, including the gunman, have been killed in a shooting at Marine Base Quantico in the US state of Virginia, a base spokesman said.

IRAQI security forces raided a town in central Iraq and freed some 15 Shi'ite families being held hostage yesterday, an official said, after Sunni militants threatened to kill captives unless all Shi'ites left the area.

A car bomb exploded near a Baghdad police station today, killing four Iraqi policemen and injuring four other people, police said.