Three Japanese, two Arabs with Israeli papers and one British civilian are taken hostage. Seven Koreans are also taken hostage but are released.US admits two towns in the south, Najaf and Kut, are no longer under its control.
Street fighting continues in the besieged Sunni town of Falluja where US troops launched a big operation on Monday.
Polish and Bulgarian troops battle followers of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in Kerbala, where hundreds of thousands of pilgrims have converged for Arbain, a major Shia religious occasion.
Iraqi Interior Minister Nuri Badran announces his resignation. Mr Badran, a Shia, said top Iraq administrator Paul Bremer wanted to redress an imbalance between Shias and Sunnis within the Iraqi Governing Council
