Baghdad rallies in support of Hezbollah

Thousands of Shiite youths, some armed, headed into Iraq’s capital Baghdad today for a pro-Hezbollah rally as skirmishes erupted with US troops that left at least three people dead, officials said. Fifteen rally-goers were wounded in a bus bombing.

The city was rocked before the crowd arrivals by a motorcycle bomb that killed 12 people – the latest victims of bloodshed that senior US generals warned could lead to civil war.