Smoke rises from the wreckage of a truck used in the first of two suicide car bombings in Kirkuk,

A girl lies wounded after twin suicide car bombings exploded within 20 minutes of each other in Kirkuk, Iraq, 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad, on Monday, July 16, 2007,

A man gestures as he walks past a burning vehicle after a bomb attack in Kirkuk

A man walks past a burning vehicle after a bomb attack in Kirkuk, north of Baghdad, July 16, 2007

Vehicles burn after a bomb attack in Kirkuk, north of Baghdad, July 16, 2007

A deadly bomb attack in the heart of a small Iraqi town has killed about 105 people, local officials say.

The blast, thought to have been caused by a truck bomb, destroyed the marketplace in Amirli, near the oil city of Kirkuk

Rescuers worked frantically to get the injured to hospitals, but the nearest medical centre to the blast site was some 45km (28 miles away).

Many died instantly in the busy market, but others were trapped under the rubble of destroyed homes.

The trauma of the blast affected young and old, with many families out together when the bomb went off.

The death toll continued to rise throughout Saturday as more of the injured were taken for treatment and pulled from the rubble.

A bombing casualty from the village of Armili is treated in a hospital in Kirkuk, Saturday, July 7, 2007. A suicide bomber detonated a truck packed with explosives in an outdoor market Saturday, killing at least 23 people and wounding at least 86 others in a village of Shiite ethnic Turkomen, Armili, 165 kilometers (100 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraq.

Medics help an Iraqi policeman who was hit by a sniper in Kirkuk, Iraq, 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad, Friday, July 6, 2007

A man cover the face of Iraqi intelligence officer Hecor Mohammed, after he died in the hospital after he was attacked by gunmen in central Kirkuk, Iraq, 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad, Friday, July 6, 2007.

A U.S. soldier from the 2nd battalion, 32nd Field Artillery brigade passes by Iraqi children during a joint patrol with the Iraqi police in Baghdad's Yarmuk neighborhood on July 5, 2007

A U.S. soldier from the 2nd battalion, 32nd Field Artillery brigade passes by Iraqis during a joint patrol with the Iraqi police in Baghdad's Yarmuk neighborhood on July 5, 2007

U.S. Sgt. Vincent Passero from Lakeland, Florida guards the street during a joint patrol with the Iraqi police in Baghdad's Yarmuk neighborhood on July 5, 2007.

U.S. soldiers from the 2nd battalion, 32nd Field Artillery brigade and an Iraqi policeman walks during their joint patrol in Baghdad's Yarmuk neighborhood on July 5, 2007.

An Iraqi women with children passes by a U.S. army vehicle in Baghdad's Yarmuk neighborhood on July 5, 2007

U.S. Pvz. Paul Bradfoot from Milwaukee guards the street during a joint patrol with the Iraqi police in Baghdad's Yarmuk neighborhood on July 5, 2007.

An Iraqi woman with her children watches in front of their home while the U.S. Army patrol leaves the base on their way to Baghdad's Yarmuk neighborhood on July 5, 2007.

U.S. soldiers from the 2nd battalion, 32nd Field Artillery brigade patrol at night in Baghdad's Yarmuk neighborhood early on July 6, 2007.

The scene of car bomb attack in southern Baghdad on late July 5, 2007

People try to remove the body of a victim of a car bomb attack in southern Baghdad on late July 5, 2007.

A US soldier secures a house on the outskirts of Baquba in the Diyala Province.

US soldiers patrol the outskirts of Baquba in Diyala Province. Hundreds of troops from the former Soviet republic of Georgia will deploy to border checkpoints in Iraq to help their US allies stem the flow of deadly weapons from Iran.

Iraqis check destroyed trucks in the Habibiyah area in eastern Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, July, 5, 2007.

An Iraqi man photographs a boy alongside shoes that belonged to the victims of Tuesday's car bomb in Baghdad.

Boys in the Iraqi Shia area of Sadr City, Baghdad, examine the burnt wreckage of a car destroyed overnight in a US helicopter strike.

Sadr City raids

Homes in Baghdad's Sadr City district bore the scars of a fierce battle on Saturday morning.

Along with the bullet-holes were what appeared to be shell-holes in walls.

US-led forces say they killed only militants in pre-dawn raids but local people say civilians died.

Children were among those hurt in fighting in the densely populated slum.

Some gathered shell cases of freshly fired heavy-calibre bullets from the scene.

Others, like this Shia woman, were in hospital to look after wounded family members.

An Iraqi woman smiles as she talks to Iraqi troops in Baqouba, 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad, Monday, June 25, 2007. Between 60 and 100 suspected al-Qaida fighters and one U.S. soldier have been killed so far in the fighting in western Baqouba, the US military said

Iraqi soldiers stand guard near suspected insurgents who were captured by joint U.S.-Iraqi military forces during an operation called Arrowhead Ripper in Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad June 25, 2007. U.S. troops hoping to directly confront al Qaeda militants in a major offensive in the Iraqi city of Baquba instead found themselves "swimming through a minefield", a senior officer said on Sunday

A U.S. soldier places plastic cuffs on the arms of a suspected insurgent who was among those captured by joint U.S.-Iraqi military forces in Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad June 25, 2007. U.S. troops hoping to directly confront al Qaeda militants in a major offensive in the Iraqi city of Baquba instead found themselves "swimming through a minefield", a senior officer said on Sunday

Iraqi soldiers guard suspected insurgents at the back of a police vehicle after the insurgents were captured by joint U.S.-Iraqi military forces during an operation called Arrowhead Ripper in Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad June 25, 2007. U.S. troops hoping to directly confront al Qaeda militants in a major offensive in the Iraqi city of Baquba instead found themselves "swimming through a minefield", a senior officer said on Sunday.

Iraqi soldiers secure the perimeter of Al-Mansour hotel in Baghdad June 25, 2007. Twelve people were killed and 18 wounded when a suicide bomber wearing an explosives-packed vest detonated inside the al-Mansour Hotel, a hotel used by foreigners and Iraqi officials, police said.

A woman walks past an armoured vehicle securing the perimeter of Al-Mansour hotel in Baghdad June 25, 2007. Twelve people were killed and 18 wounded when a suicide bomber wearing an explosives-packed vest detonated inside the al-Mansour Hotel, a hotel used by foreigners and Iraqi officials, police said.

A helicopter used by private security contractors flies near al-Mansour hotel in Baghdad June 25, 2007. Twelve people were killed and 18 wounded when a suicide bomber wearing an explosives-packed vest detonated inside the al-Mansour Hotel, a hotel used by foreigners and Iraqi officials, police said.

Traditional Arab headgear lays amidst the rubble at the al-Mansour hotel in Baghdad. Suicide bombers have targetted police and struck a Baghdad hotel in a wave of insurgent bombings that killed at least 45 people in Iraq.

Iraqi soldiers talk to villagers while on a routine patrol with U.S. soldiers in Hilla, in this March 19, 2006 file photo. A suicide car bomb attack killed eight people and wounded 25 in the Iraqi city of Hilla on Monday, police said

Relatives tend a man in a hospital in Tikrit, Iraq Monday, June 25, 2007. The man was among wounded when a suicide truck bomber targeted an Iraqi police station shared with U.S. troops in Beiji, 250 kilometers (155 miles) north of Baghdad, killing nine people. There were no American casualties in that blast, the U.S. command said.

Iraqi and US troops walk the streets of Baqouba, 60 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad, Monday, June 25, 2007. Between 60 and 100 suspected al-Qaida fighters and one U.S. soldier have been killed so far in the fighting in western Baqouba, the US military said.

At least 78 people have been killed in a truck bomb blast near a Shia mosque in central Baghdad, Iraqi officials say.

Chemical Ali' sentenced to hang

A cousin of the late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has been sentenced to death by an Iraqi court for the murder of some 180,000 Kurds in 1988.

Baghdad mosque blast

At least 78 people have been killed in a truck bomb blast near a Shia mosque in central Baghdad, Iraqi officials say.