US forces kill 10 insurgents as 10 Iraqi troops die in attacks

US TROOPS killed 10 insurgents north of Baghdad yesterday, while 10 Iraqi troops died in two separate attacks in a surge of violence following a relative lull last week.

A military statement said soldiers of the 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment killed the 10 insurgents in Tal Afar, 260 miles north of Baghdad. US troops suffered no losses.

Insurgents, however, struck back twice against Iraqi army positions in Khalis, 45 miles north of Baghdad. The first assault began when gunmen, firing mortars, machine guns and semi-automatic weapons, stormed an Iraqi checkpoint, killing eight Iraqi soldiers, Khalis police chief Colonel Mahdi Saleh said.