FALLUJAH, IRAQ - At least nine people were killed in two attacks inside Iraq on Wednesday, with angry mobs later mutilating some of the bodies.

Four U.S. civilian contractors were killed in Fallujah when gunmen attacked two four-wheel-drive vehicles being driven along a main road. The ambush quickly turned into a scene of mob violence when the bodies were taken from the burning vehicles and dragged through the streets. Television news cameras captured pictures of a man beating one of the bodies with a metal pole, a corpse being dragged behind a car, and bodies hanging from a bridge. Some of the bodies were dismembered. Witnesses showed Associated Press Television News dog tags from one of the bodies, and weapons that were apparently found inside the cars.

The other attack occurred near Fallujah, in the Sunni triangle where anti-occupation forces have been most active. Five U.S. soldiers were killed when their vehicle ran over a roadside bomb near Malahma, 20 kilometres northwest of Fallujah. The vehicle was destroyed in the blast. Later on Wednesday, Fallujah was quiet, with no U.S. military or Iraqi police to be seen.

The spate of recent violence follows comments by a United Nations electoral expert, who said elections can't be held in Iraq until the security situation improves. Authority is to be transferred from the U.S.-led administration to an Iraqi government on June 30, with a deadline for elections set for Jan. 31.