A suicide bomber blew up a car near a police station in the Iraqi town of Falluja today killing himself and at least five civilians.
Police officers said a small car driven by one man exploded close to the main police station in the town west of Baghdad, outside a secondary school for boys.
The school was closed, but police said one unidentified body was found inside.Police Colonel Jalal Sabri said all the victims appeared to have beenbystanders.
He said at least four people were dead but the number could reach six. Thecount was difficult because some victims were dismembered, he said.
US troops sealed off the area around the blast.
Meanwhile a roadside bomb blast in the southern Iraqi city of Basra today killed a soldier from the US-led occupying forces and two civilians, the British military said.
"There were two explosions in Basra city today. One explosion killed an Iraqi civilian, a non-Iraqi civilian and a coalition soldier," a British military spokeswoman told reporters. She said there were no casualties in the second blast.
The spokeswoman did not specify the nationality of the dead soldier. British soldiers are in command of security in Basra, leading a multinational force.
President George W. Bush blamed the violence in postwar Iraq on members of Saddam Hussein's ousted Baath party and "foreign terrorists".
Mr Bush, seeking re-election next year amid criticism in some quarters of his Iraq policies, said he expected Syria and Iran to enforce border controls to stop infiltrators.
Officials in the US-led coalition occupying Iraq also revealed today the deputy mayor of Baghdad was killed in a drive-by shooting on Sunday night.
They said Mr Faris al-Assam was near his home in the capital when the killers struck.
Today's attacks came the day after suicide bombers attacked three police stations and the Red Cross headquarters in Baghdad, killing 35 people and wounding more than 200.
Falluja lies 40 miles west of the Iraqi capital in the so-called "Sunni Triangle" where deposed dictator Saddam Hussein has strong tribal ties and resistance to the US-led occupation is strongest.
Iraqi guerrillas launch daily attacks on US troops in the region. Iraqis working with the occupation forces, such as the US-backed police, are also frequent targets of attacks.