US troops kill 11 in ambush amid low-key July 4 celebrations

US troops killed 11 Iraqis who ambushed a convoy outside Baghdad yesterday. It was one of the most intense clashes yet in the daily grind of attacks on American forces.

The ambush came hours after mortars hit a nearby base, wounding 18 US soldiers, and a sniper shot and killed a US soldier guarding the Baghdad museum, the military said.

The insurgency has raised fears of a political and military quagmire just two months after US President George W Bush declared an end to major combat on May 1. At least 27 US troops have been killed in hostile fire since Bush’s statement.