At least 63 people have been killed in a series of suicide bomb attacks across Iraq.
An apparently co-ordinated series of attacks in the northern city of Mosul left 15 people dead and a further 26 wounded.
In the worst attack, 11 people were killed when an explosive-laden truck exploded outside a police station in the city. It is understood the majority of those killed were civilians.
The attack was one of a series of blasts that struck every 20 minutes over a period of three hours. Soon after the wave of bombings, police closed off access routes to the city and imposed an immediate curfew.
Following the Mosul assault, another two suicide car bombs detonated in the northern oil hub of Kirkuk.
The explosions, one of which occurred outside a bank, left 18 dead and 68 wounded.
The blast at the entrance to Bab al-Aswad bank in a southern district of the city struck as Iraqi soldiers were waiting to collect their salaries. A large part of the bank building, two army vehicles and several nearby shops were set on fire.
Meanwhile in the Shia market town of Khalis, in Diyala province, a bomb in a crowded market killed 17 people.
In the southern city of Amara what were described as 'rogue elements' of radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army militia fought a pitched battle with Iraqi police, forcing the Iraqi Army to send reinforcements to the town.
Seven were killed and 35 wounded, including police, insurgents and civilians.
In other violence, five people were killed, including two police officers, in a bomb attack targeting a police convoy.
And Brigadier General Kadhim Mahdi of the Iraqi border police was killed in the southern Baghdad neighbourhood of Saidiyah.
Bush reaffirms Iraq commitment
US President George W Bush has reaffirmed his commitment to the military campaign in Iraq and has insisted that US troops will remain there despite the growing number of casualties.
He was speaking to the US television network, ABC, after it was revealed that 11 US troops had lost their lives in the previous 24 hours.
In the interview, Mr Bush acknowledged, for the first time, a possible parallel between the raging violence in Iraq and the Vietnam War.
However, the White House also affirmed that it has no plan to reassess its strategy in the country, despite the surge in US casualties there and unrelenting sectarian bloodshed.
