BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) – At least 68 Iraqis died in bombings yesterday as they prepared to celebrate Islam’s biggest holiday – their first without Saddam Hussein.

The US military announced six more American troop deaths, making December the deadliest month of 2006 for US forces.

In north-west Baghdad, two parked cars exploded one after another, killing 37 civilians and wounding 76 in a mixed neighbourhood of the Iraqi capital, police said.

Another 31 people died and 58 were hurt when a bomb planted on a minibus exploded in a fish market in a mostly Shiite town south of Baghdad, said Issa Mohammed, director of the morgue in the neighbouring town of Najaf.

The man blamed for parking the vehicle in Kufa, a Shiite town 100 miles south of the Iraqi capital, was cornered and killed by a mob as he walked away from the explosion, police and witnesses said.

There was no indication the attacks were related to the execution of Saddam Hussein. They came on the eve of when Iraq’s Shiites begin celebrating Eid al-Adha, the most important holiday of the Islamic calendar, and shoppers crowded into markets to buy supplies for the four-day festival.

Television footage showed hundreds of men in traditional Arab headdresses swarming around the minibus’ charred frame, toppled on its side in the street. Ambulances and fire trucks pulled up to the site, and a coffin could be seen being loaded onto the top of a car.

The US military announced the deaths of three Marines and three soldiers, making December the year’s deadliest month for US troops in Iraq with the toll reaching 109.

The Marines, all assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5, died Thursday of wounds from fighting in western Anbar province, the US military said. A soldier assigned to 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division and also died in combat in Anbar, and two others were killed by roadside bombs in north-west Baghdad, the military said yesterday.

Their deaths pushed the toll past the 105 US service members killed in October. At least 2,998 members of the US military have been killed since the Iraq war began in March 2003, according to an AP count.