Coalition steps up security as Baghdad is pounded again
Baghdad has been hit by further air assaults as coalition security is stepped up in the wake of a suicide attack which killed four American soldiers.
A series of loud explosions have been heard to the south and west of Baghdad where Republican Guard units are thought to be positioned.
Arab satellite TV station Al Jazeera has shown footage of coalition jets in the sky followed by explosions in the northern city of Mosul and reported further blasts in the southern city of Basra.
US Major General Victor Renuart, the coalition director of operations, said security at checkpoints would be reviewed in the light of the attack.
"That kind of activity is something that is an example of an organisation that is beginning to get a little bit desperate," he said.
He said he had received no "firm indication" that groups linked to al Qaida - which has frequently adopted suicide attacks in the past - were active in the area.
