Nine dead in continuing violence in Iraq

Bombs and drive-by shootings killed nine people in Iraq today, and the bodies of seven Iraqi men who apparently had been kidnapped and tortured in captivity were found in three different areas of Baghdad, police said.

The deadliest attack involved a roadside bomb that exploded on a highway south of the capital, killing three security contractors and wounding two. Police said the victims were all British. British officials in Baghdad and London confirmed the attack, but said they were trying determine the nationality and identities.