Wave of Iraq Violence Rolls On

A bomb outside a bank in the northern city of Kirkuk on Tuesday killed 19 people, while in Baghdad five Iraqi soldiers died in a suicide attack. And the bodies of 24 men were found after falling victim to two ambushes in western Iraq.

Those who died in Kirkuk included pensioners waiting for checks and child street vendors. Another 81 people were injured. The pavement outside the bank was strewn with rubble and glass from the building, while several bodies were seen lying underneath wreckage. At least two cars parked nearby were set ablaze.

A suicide car bomber rammed his vehicle into an Iraqi army checkpoint, killing five soldiers and wounding two others in Kan'an, 45 kilometres north of Baghdad.

The bodies of 24 men - some of which were beheaded - were brought to a Baghdad hospital, said a hospital morgue official Tuesday. They had been missing since their convoy delivering supplies for the U.S. military was ambushed near Khaldiyah on Thursday. Two of the bodies were identified as an Iraqi policeman and an interpreter, but it was not immediately clear which company they worked for.