BEIJING, June 4 (Xinhuanet) -- At least 825 people, including US forces, have been killed since the new Shiite-led government was announced April 28, underscoring the fragility of this country's reconstruction.

    

At least 825 people, including US forces, have been killed since the new Shiite-led government was announced April 28, underscoring the fragility of this country's reconstruction. (Photo: Xinhua/AFP)

In the latest attack, ten Iraqis were killed in an overnight suicide bombing in a remote village north of Baghdad, officials said Friday, bringing to nearly 50 deaths during a bloody day of violence in Iraq.  

    Thursday's killing claimed the lives of at least 49 people, including more than 30 in four suicide bombings across the country's north and a Shiite cleric in the southern city of Basra. 

    Iraq's Interior Minister Bayan Jabr on Thursday claimed the government offensive seeking to root out rebels in Baghdad had scored big gains, saying this week's sweep by Iraqi soldiers and police captured 700 suspected insurgents and killed 28 militants.     

    As part of the campaign against insurgents, Iraq's government launched in Baghdad on Sunday the biggest Iraqi offensive since Saddam Hussein's fall two years ago. Iraqi officials have said the operation involves 40,000 soldiers and police, though not all are manning positions at any one time.

    Before the offensive, authorities controlled only eight of Baghdad's 23 entrances, Jabr said. Enditem 

   (Agencies)