The Fancy Dress Ball

Or a civil war by any other name bleeds as much.

Additions to the dance card for April 16, 2005.

In eastern Baghdad, a bomb planted in a minibus killed at least four people and wounded six others, an Interior Ministry official said. Gunmen killed a policeman in northern Baghdad and injured four others. Policemen found three bodies in the Tigris River, all shot in the head.

In Kirkuk, men dressed in Iraqi Army uniforms opened fire on civilians stopped by a road, killing two and injuring two others, said Col. Yadgar Abdullah of the Kirkuk police.

UPDATE for Monday, April 17, 2006.

Six more Iraqis were killed in various attacks across the country. A pre-dawn raid by the US military on a suspected Al Qaeda hideout southwest of Baghdad also left five alleged insurgents and a woman dead.

Gunmen, some dressed in police uniforms and driving police cars, kidnapped 15 employees from two Baghdad businesses - an investment firm and a mobile phone company - security sources said.

And the band plays on…