Fifty-four Iraqis were killed in the northern city of Samarra as US forces used battle tanks and cannons to fight their way out of two simultaneous ambushes, the military said today.

TWO US soldiers were killed and one was wounded in an ambush north of Baghdad while insurgents attacked a convoy setting off huge explosions in several vehicles.

Two US soldiers were killed and one was wounded in an ambush in Kirkuk today.

Two American soldiers have been killed and one wounded in an ambush outside the Iraqi city of Kirkuk.

US forces kicked off a massive sweep with more than 20 lightning raids in towns throughout Iraq, netting at least 60 suspects in a show of air and infantry power designed to crush resistance and stem a wave of deadly attacks on US troops.