Britain's defense ministry says three of its troops have been killed and several more injured in an attack in Iraq.
They are the first members of the Black Watch regiment to be killed in hostile action since last week, when the 850 troops redeployed closer to Baghdad from their base in southern Iraq.
The redeployment is meant to free up American troops for an expected assault on the insurgent strongholds of Fallujah and Ramadi.
In other violence, police say at least four Iraqis were killed and more than a dozen wounded in a car bombing outside city government offices in Dujail, north of Baghdad.
And relief group Doctors Without Borders says it is pulling out of Iraq, citing escalating violence and kidnappings. The organization's decision comes as CARE International awaits news on the fate of its kidnapped director in Iraq, Margaret Hassan.