‘THIS is the fate of any prostitution’ reads a message scrawled on the wall of one of two brothels raided by gunmen in Baghdad overnight, leaving 29 dead — mostly women.

One police officer told media he had “found bodies everywhere” after the attack, AFP reports.

No motive has been given for the attack. No group has yet claimed responsibility.

The suburb of Zayouna, where the attacks took place, is a strife-torn area with a mixed population of the opposing Shia and Sunni factions of Islam.

Reuters reports locals as claiming those responsible were members of Shia militias.

It’s not the first time a brothel has been targeted.

A brothel was attacked in May last year. Seven women and five men were killed in the incident.

The United Nations warned last night that Iraq’s deeply-divided politicians must quickly form a government or risk descent into ``chaos’’, as security forces beat back one militant assault but lost ground elsewhere.

In Anbar province, security forces backed by tribal fighters held off a major attack by militants on Haditha, a town northwest of Baghdad made strategic by the large nearby dam and its oil refinery.

WHEN CALIPHS RULE: Understanding the Iraq insurgency

The attack on Haditha, located on the road linking militant-held western areas and the provincial capital Ramadi, began with mortar fire, police said.

Gunmen travelling in vehicles, including some captured from security forces, then attacked from two sides but were kept from entering the town in fighting that left 13 militants and four police dead, officers and a doctor said.

POLITICAL TURMOIL

Iraqi MPs are to hold a parliament session later today to hasten the appointment of a parliamentary speaker, president and premier, in the hope that new leadership can better counter a sweeping jihadist-led militant offensive that began last month.

``Elections were held in which doctor Salim al-Juburi won the confidence of the lawmakers present, and he was confirmed as the Sunni bloc’s candidate for speaker of parliament,’’ a statement from parliament’s United for Change Sunni grouping said.

By convention, the role of head of parliament is awarded to Iraq’s minority Sunnis, the post of president to the Kurds and premiership reserved for Iraq’s majority Shiites.

The statement was sent on behalf of a wider meeting of Sunni lawmakers, who also pledged not to accept incumbent premier Nuri al-Maliki for a third term.

Such a condition could be a stumbling block in forming a new government, given Maliki’s vow earlier this month to never give up on his candidacy for another turn as Iraqi leader.

The previous session of parliament earlier this month ended in mayhem, with MPs trading insults and threats. Too few returned to the chamber after a break meant to cool tempers and the quorum needed to proceed with a vote was lost.

UN envoy Nickolay Mladenov warned Iraqi politicians that ``failure to move forward on electing a new speaker, a new president and a new government risks plunging the country into chaos’’.

``It will only serve the interests of those who seek to divide the people of Iraq and destroy their chances for peace and prosperity,’’ he said.

Attendance could be a problem, with parliament not even able to reach a quorum for an emergency session called at the height of the militant offensive last month.

Abdulsalam al-Maliki, an MP from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s list, said any member of the Shiite National Alliance who stays away is siding with ``the enemies of Iraq’’.