A suicide car bomber killed at least eight people in an attack on a police checkpoint in Baghdad today, after a night of US air strikes around the rebel-held city of Falluja that killed scores.
Two Iraqi children, with their clothes covered in blood, at the hospital in Falluja
A government spokesman said the bomb had detonated beside a line of police vehicles set up to seal off routes to nearby Haifa Street, where US troops were pressing on with the battles they have been fighting all week to dislodge insurgents.
The Interior Ministry said five police had been killed and the Health Ministry said at least three civilians were also dead, and the toll could rise. Earlier, a government spokesman had put the death toll at 13.
A large crater was gouged into the road and several police cars were set ablaze, sending thick smoke into the sky.
On Tuesday, a suicide car bomb attack on a police station killed 47 people, the deadliest attack in Baghdad in six months.
The US military is fighting to regain control of guerrilla strongholds and restore security so that elections can be held in January as planned. But doubts are growing that the polls can proceed, and US Secretary of State Colin Powell conceded that elections could not be held under current security conditions.
The US military said an air strike last night night near Falluja had killed around 60 foreign fighters loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian with a $25 million price on his head.
Early today, US warplanes destroyed a compound in south central Falluja that the US military said was also used by Zarqawi's militants.
Iraq's Health Ministry said at least 45 civilians had been killed in the air strikes.
This evening, US aircraft again attacked targets in Falluja, destroying four houses, residents said. Doctors at Falluja's hospital said at least six people were killed.