General assassinated as wave of attacks kill 21 Iraqis

MILITANTS assassinated a general and a colonel and a car bomb exploded near a busy market in Baghdad yesterday, part of a wave of attacks that killed at least 21 Iraqis and wounded more than 70, authorities said.

The latest violence comes despite a major US offensive aimed at followers of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Iraq's most-wanted terrorist, in a remote desert region near the Syrian border said to be a staging ground for some of the deadliest attacks.

Two US Marines were killed and 14 wounded when a bomb hit their troop transport vehicle during the offensive on Wednesday. At least five marines and as many as 100 insurgents have been killed in Operation Matador, which entered its fifth day yesterday.