Two US soldiers die in Iraq gunfight

GUNMEN opened fire on American troops at a checkpoint early yesterday, killing two US soldiers and wounding nine others in the troubled town of Fallujah – a hotbed of support for Saddam Hussein’s fallen Ba’ath Party, the US military said.

US troops returned fire, killing two attackers and capturing six Iraqis for questioning.

Hours later, two American military police officers were injured, at least one seriously, after two attacks with rocket-propelled grenades on a north-west Baghdad police station, said Lieutenant Clint Mundinger of the US Army’s military police.