FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters):

At least 27 people were killed and dozens wounded yesterday when a suicide car bomber drove into a crowd of mourners at a funeral in Falluja, west of Baghdad, police said.

In the capital, gunmen stopped a minibus in the mainly Shi'ite Husseiniya district and shot dead all 11 passengers, police said. They then planted a bomb among the bodies that exploded when police arrived, killing two people and wounding four, including two policemen.

The attacks came despite a major security crackdown focused on Baghdad, epicentre of sectarian violence between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunnis. Tens of thousands of U.S. and Iraqi troops have been deployed.

President George W. Bush said yesterday the summer would be critical for his troop buildup strategy in Iraq and predicted heavy fighting in the weeks and months ahead.

US soldier

The U.S. military confirmed that a body pulled from the Euphrates River south of Baghdad on Wednesday was one of three U.S. soldiers missing since their patrol was ambushed on May 12. Thousands of troops were continuing toscour farmland for the other two missing soldiers.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack in Falluja, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad in restive Anbar province, but police said the funeral was for a local businessman opposed to Sunni Islamist al Qaida.