The violence has raised fears that insurgents ­ almost all from the Sunni Arab minority ­

The violence has raised fears that insurgents ­ almost all from the Sunni Arab minority ­ are making a concerted effort to drag the country into civil war. The explosive device killed all seven soldiers travelling in the Bradley Fighting Vehicle during its routine patrol.In relation to the grim discovery in Mosul, the 18 victims, some as young as 14, were killed last month as they were on their way from the Shia Baghdad district of Kadhemiya to work at a US military base in Mosul. “The tools [the insurgents] are using ­ murder, torture, kidnapping, indiscriminately, children, women ­ those are tools of someone who is not popularly wanted,” he said. “Other than wanting the coalition to go away very few of these groups have a common objective.”His comments were made hours before the US military confirmed the death of seven of its soldiers. “It would change by province, it changes by time of year, it changes by the illumination of the moon, it changes by the weather.”He insisted the insurgency had no popular support. During a press briefing yesterday, Lieutenant-General Thomas Metz, commander of all forces in Iraq, said the insurgents had diverse backgrounds.”There are hardcore terrorists fighting for an ideology; there are young impoverished men looking to make some money,” he said. “As the gangs of terrorists continue their hostile activities to prevent the formation of a government and stop the peaceful participation of Iraqis in the political process, the Council of Ministers has agreed to extend emergency laws,” Mr Allawi said in a statement.The US military has also stepped up patrols and raised its profile for the run-up to the elections, which insurgents are attempting to disrupt with a campaign of car bombs and assassinations.

Marines in Fallujah continued military operations in what was once the insurgents’ stronghold, seizing weapons and detaining 13 suspected militants in raids.The torrent of violence prompted Iyad Allawi, the interim Prime Minister, to extend a state of emergency, which calls for a curfew and gives police greater powers, for another month. In the country’s restless province of Anbar, one US Marine was killed, military officials announced. In Mosul, Iraqi officials announced the discovery of the bodies of 18 young Shia men believed shot and killed execution-style near the city last month.Back in the capital, gunmen shot dead Abdel Karim, the head of police in Baghdad’s Shia district of Sadr City, as he was driving to work, and officials found the body of high-level Communist Party official Hadi Saleh, 56, in his home. More violence shook Iraq yesterday as the interim government moved to renew extraordinary emergency powers it had granted itself ahead of the elections at the end of the month.
Seven US soldiers were killed when their vehicle hit an explosive device during a routine patrol on a road in northwestern Baghdad.

Sergent added.Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, the French journalists who were kidnapped in Iraq on 20 August, were released two weeks ago.. “We are waiting, with a little hope.”Aubenas, 43, and her interpreter, Hussein Hanoun al-Saadi, “haven’t been seen since they left their hotel in Baghdad Wednesday morning”, Lib?tion said on its website.The French foreign ministry said authorities in Baghdad and in Paris have made “all efforts” to find them since Lib?tion gave word that they were missing. Officials said searches have been undertaken, notably in hospitals. While maintaining a presence in Baghdad, Lib?tion’s reporters no longer travel outside of the Iraqi capital because of attacks and the risk of kidnappings, M. Normally, she is in contact with the paper at least twice a day, he said.