Ten US troops killed as Spain begins withdrawal

TEN US soldiers and as many as 30 insurgents were killed in fierce clashes around Iraq over the weekend as Spain vowed to pull its troops out of the coalition "as soon as possible".

Five marines died in an ambush on the Syrian border, triggering a battle with hundreds of guerrillas and pushing the number of US soldiers killed in combat this month to 99.

At least 25 Iraqis were killed in the fighting that followed Saturday's ambush in Husaybah, 240 miles west of Baghdad, the military said. The city's police chief was among the dead, a hospital official said.