The new commander of US troops in Iraq has said everyone in the country must work together for security, or be doomed to continued violence.
General David Petraeus took over command of the troops today from General George Casey, who will return to the United States to become the new Army Chief of Staff.
General Patraeus was named as part of a big shake-up of the US military tackling the conflict in Iraq.
Taking command just days after the start of a new operation against militants in Baghdad, he said the situation in Iraq was 'exceedingly challenging' but not 'hopeless'.
The General takes charge at a critical time, having been appointed to oversee US President George W Bush's new strategy in Iraq, which focuses on halting the daily carnage of suicide bombings and so called 'death squad' killings on Baghdad's streets.
Thousands of US and Iraqi forces have launched the Baghdad crackdown, seen as the last chance to stem civil war between majority Shias and minority Sunni Arabs.
In contineuing violence, at least 14 people have been killed in a series of bombings across Iraq.
The worst attacks were seen in the capital Baghdad, with seven people killed in two car bomb blasts in Shia areas in the east of the city.
It is understood the blasts occurred near a bakery in the Karrada district.
In Mussayab, 60km south of Baghdad, three members of the same family died when gunmen stormed their house. Two others were wounded in the attack.
And in the north of the country, an Iraqi soldier was killed in a suicide bomb attack in the town of Tal Afar.
It was earlier confirmed that three US soldiers were killed this morning during an operation in Diyala province, north of the capital.
A further four soldiers were wounded when an explosion struck a building they were searching.
