Friday, September 30 2005 10:36 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Baghdad: Three suicide attackers detonated car bombs nearly simultaneously in a mainly Shiite town north of Baghdad yesterday (Sept 29, 2005), killing at least 60 people and wounding 70 others, a hospital official said. Five United States (US) soldiers were killed in a blast in a western town, the military announced.

The car bombs occurred just before sunset, around 6:45 p.m. (local time) hitting a bank, a vegetable market and another location in downtown Balad, 80 kilometres north of the capital, witnesses said.

Dr Khaled al-Azawi of Balad Hospital said at least 60 were killed, and 70 were wounded, including the town's police chief, Col Kadhim Abdul Razzaq, and four other policemen.

The five soldiers were killed a day earlier in Ramadi, a hotbed of insurgent activity 100 kilometres west of Baghdad, a Marine statement said. They were conducting combat operations when a roadside bomb hit them, the deadliest single attack on US forces since a roadside bomb killed 14 Marines in the town of Haditha on August 3.

Violence has escalated in the lead up to a crucial October 15 referendum on a new constitution that has opened sharp divisions between the country's Shiites and Sunnis. More than 140 people, including 13 US service members, have been killed in the past four days.

The Ramadi blast brought to 1,934 the number of US service members who have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

The top American commander in Iraq told Congress yesterday that the process of withdrawing US troops from the country depends greatly on the results of the referendum and elections that are due to take place afterward if the constitution passes.

"The next 75 days are going to be critical for what happens," Gen George Casey told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Sunni Arab leaders are calling on their followers to vote against the constitution, which they say will fragment the country into Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni areas, with the Sunnis having the least power and revenue. The US ambassador has been trying to work out last-minute changes to the draft that might ease Sunni opposition.

That process was strained yesterday when Sunni officials said US forces raided the homes of two officials from a prominent Sunni Arab organisation, arresting bodyguards and confiscating weapons.

Adnan al-Dulaimi, Secretary-General of the Conference for Iraq's People and an adviser to the Iraqi President on religious affairs, said soldiers in tanks and Humvees, with two helicopters circling overhead, broke into his home at 2:30 a.m., put him and his family in a guest room and searched the house.

The other raid took place at the Baghdad home of Harith al-Obeidi, another senior official in the organisation, said Iraq's largest Sunni political party, the Iraqi Islamic Party.

The US military said it had conducted several raids in those areas of Baghdad yesterday, but could not immediately identify the homes or Iraqis involved.