18 die in fierce Baghdad fighting

Bombings and shootings across Iraq have left 18 people dead, including a US Marine and a cameraman killed in fierce fighting between American forces and guerrillas armed with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades in a town west of Baghdad.

In the centre of the capital today, a bomb exploded on a street as a convoy of sports utility vehicles passed, wounding five Iraqis, US Army Lt. Col. Peter Jones said.