The US military has said that about 35 Iraqi insurgents have been killed and more than 40 arrested in a joint operation involving US, Ukrainian and Iraqi forces south of Baghdad.
It is reported that seven Iraqi policemen were also killed in the operation at the town of Sueira.
Meanwhile, Iraq's Health Ministry has said the death toll from this morning's bomb attack in the town of Baquba, some 40 miles north of Baghdad, is now 68.
The blast happened when a minibus packed with explosives blew up outside a police station, where recruits were queuing to enlist in the security forces.
Up to 40 people were wounded in the attack, which is the worst since the handover of sovereignty to an Iraqi government a month ago.
Baquba is a mixed Sunni and Shi'ite town which has seen frequent outbreaks of violence over the past year.
Elsewhere it is reported four Iraqi policemen were killed in a roadside bomb attack on a joint US and Iraqi convoy, west of the city of Fallujah.
