BAGHDAD, Nov 2: At least eight people were killed in Iraq on Tuesday in a car bombing spree that targeted symbols of the US-backed government, while hundreds of residents fled the guerilla-held city of Fallujah after a night of air raids.

The unrest came as the United States voted for its next president after an election campaign that has focused closely on Washington's decision to invade Iraq.

Upping the stakes, at least four employees of a foreign company, including an American, remained missing after kidnappers raided their Baghdad offices on Monday.

Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has pledged to restore order to the country before Iraq's own landmark polls, promised by January, and is prepared to use force.

At least six people were killed and another 21 wounded when a suicide car bomb tore through a line of cars outside the education ministry in northern Baghdad early on Tuesday morning.

"It was a suicide attack, we found the body of the driver inside the charred remains of the car," said a police official.

The bomber attempted to ram the gates outside the heavily-protected ministry compound but was stopped by guards before detonating his charge, one of the guards on duty said.

Minutes earlier another car bomb exploded in western Baghdad on a US military patrol, wounding one soldier and damaging an Iraqi truck, the army said in a statement.-AFP