Blasts kill over 120 in Iraq; 5 US soilders die
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-20 13:54

In Baghdad, the U.S. command confirmed the fire fight and said 11 U.S. soldiers, nine Iraqi army troops and one policeman were wounded. The U.S. statement put the insurgent death toll at seven.

Since Friday, at least 125 Iraqi civilians have been killed in bombings and suicide attacks. They include 76 people who died in near-simultaneous suicide bombings at two Shiite mosques in Khanaqin along the Iranian border. Four people have been arrested, including one believed to have been planning another suicide attack, a security officer in Khanaqin said.

Attacks against Shiite civilians by Sunni religious extremists have occurred throughout the Iraq conflict but spiked since last weekend when U.S. troops found up to 173 detainees in an Interior Ministry building in Baghdad.

Most of the detainees were believed to be Sunni Arabs, who dominate insurgent ranks, and some showed signs of torture. Iraq's Shiite-led government promised an investigation and punishment for anyone guilty of torture.

Elsewhere, masked gunmen killed five members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party in a series of attacks Saturday in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, police said.

Three children were killed and one was wounded when mortar rounds fired at a U.S. base about 50 miles south of Baghdad fell short of their target and struck a house, police said.