Seven civilians killed in roadside bomb after insurgents clash with US troops

INSURGENT attacks across Iraq yesterday left seven civilians and three Iraqi soldiers dead, a day after US troops killed 26 militants in a clash - the highest, single-incident insurgent death toll reported in four months.

In the deadliest attack yesterday on civilians, a roadside bomb killed four women and three children in Aziziyah, 35 miles southeast of Baghdad, police Captain Falah al-Muhmadawi said.

An Iraqi soldier was killed in Sherqat, 160 miles north of Baghdad, when a mortar shell landed on his camp, while another soldier died and four others were wounded when an Iraqi army vehicle was hit by a rocket propelled grenade in western Baghdad, a Defence Ministry official said.

In Baghdad's Amiriyah neighbourhood, gunmen in two speeding cars fired on an Iraq army foot patrol, killing another soldier and wounding a third.

Nearby, the head of the Kazimiyah neighbourhood police force escaped unhurt when gunmen opened fire on his car, police said. His driver, however, was seriously injured and hospitalised.

In Samarra, an explosives-laden pickup truck driven by a suicide bomber went off prematurely near a hospital, wounding about a dozen civilians and damaging homes.

Police also said the director of the Iraqi army's legal department in northern Kirkuk was shot and critically injured late Sunday outside his home. Further south, troops killed two suspected terrorists and detained two others after they discovered the men digging holes along the road for hiding homemade bombs.

Late Sunday, a US convoy was attacked with gunfire and rocket propelled grenades, sparking the clash that killed 26 militants.

Between 40 and 50 militants opened fire on military police and artillery units from the Kentucky National Guard as the Americans travelled along a road 20 miles southeast of Baghdad that has seen a recent increase in violence.

Six soldiers and seven militants were wounded, and one person was arrested. It was one of the largest battles since the January 30 election.

In December, coalition forces killed 25 insurgents who launched a co-ordinated attack on a US checkpoint. The insurgents detonated a truck bomb and attacked in groups of 10 to 12 before the Americans called in air strikes by fighter jets.

The higher death toll Sunday was attributed to the unusually large number of attackers, who often travel in smaller bands or employ hidden explosives.

After Sunday's attack, troops recovered six RPG launchers, 16 rockets, 13 machine guns, 22 assault weapons, over 2,900 rounds of ammunition and 40 hand grenades from insurgents.