The US consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, was today attacked by gunmen, with a car bomb exploding in front of the building. Early reports suggested that four Saudi guards were killed in the attack, and 18 local staff taken hostage.

U.S. troops fought a gunbattle with insurgents along a busy street in Baghdad on Monday, sending passers-by scurrying for cover, witnesses said, while five U.S. troops were reported killed in separate clashes in a volatile western province as insurgents step up attacks ahead of next month's elections.