Attacks kill at least 66 Iraqis

A pair of mortar rounds slammed into a football field while young men were playing a game in a Shiite district of Baghdad today, as more than 60 people were killed in attacks nationwide.

US forces also said they killed 14 suspected insurgents, detained 48 and rescued a kidnapped Iraqi policeman in a pair of raids outside Baghdad that began yesterday.

No American casualties were reported in those actions, but the military said separately that a Marine died today from fighting in the volatile Anbar province west of Baghdad and a US soldier was killed yesterday in combat around the northern city of Kirkuk.

The deaths raised the number of US troops killed in Iraq this month to 21.

October was the fourth deadliest month for US forces since the war started, with 105 service members killed.

The American deaths and persistent violence in Iraq were among the key issues that helped Democrats to seize control of the House of Representatives from Republicans in yesterday's midterm elections.

But the US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, said he did not expect US Iraq policy to change dramatically, despite the election upset. "Americans are prepared to continue to support Iraq as Iraqis take the needed steps," he said in videotaped remarks.

The mortar rounds struck the football field in Sadr City as an afternoon game was in progress between young men from the sprawling slum that is home to about 2.5 million people, Police Captain Mohammed Ismail said.

At least eight people were killed and 20 wounded, including players and bystanders, he said.

Dozens of people have been killed in recent days in mortar attacks by rival Sunni and Shiite groups on residential areas in Baghdad.

Two mortar rounds also struck an area in northern Baghdad today, killing at least one person, Police Lieutenant Mohammed Khayoun said.

Authorities had originally called yesterday's attack on a coffee shop in another Shiite neighbourhood in Baghdad a mortar attack, but Lieutenant Ali Muhssin said it was a suicide bombing.

He also raised the death toll in that attack from 14 to 21, with another 25 wounded.

South of the capital, a bomb planted in a minivan exploded in an open-air market in Mahmoudiyah, killing at least six people and wounding 28, policeman Haider Satar said.

Another 16 people were killed in a string of shootings and bombings in Diyala province north of the capital, while a car bomb in western Baghdad killed three people and wounded three, Lieutenant Mutaz Salaheddin said.

US forces said they killed 10 suspected insurgents and rescued a kidnapped Iraqi policeman this morning in a raid near Muqdadiyah, 60 miles north of Baghdad.

Acting on a tip, the troops fought their way into a building, where they found the hostage blindfolded and shackled to the floor.

The policemen told troops two other patrolmen captured with him days earlier already had been released after their families paid a ransom.

A sniper rifle, mortar system, bomb-making materials and other weapons were found on the scene, the military said.

US troops also said they killed four suspected insurgents and detained 48 others during a raid yesterday afternoon in Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad.

Rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns, grenades and explosives-rigged vests used by suicide bombers were found in a vehicle, the military said.

Fighting involving US forces also left nine Iraqi gunmen dead in Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, Police Brigadier Sarhat Abdul-Qadir said, without giving details. The American military had no comment on the report.

In all, at least 66 Iraqi civilians were reported killed or found dead in violence across the country.