Two US soldiers killed in Iraq ambush

Two US soldiers were killed and one was wounded in an ambush in Kirkuk today.

Rebels also attacked a convoy in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, setting off huge explosions in several vehicles.

Young Iraqis cheered and danced with each explosion and motorists sounded their horns in an apparent celebration of the attack.

In a third incident, three apparent Iraqi attackers were also reported killed.

There were no reports of casualties in the Sunday morning attack against what appeared to be a US ammunition truck in Fallujah, 35 miles west of Baghdad in the ‘Sunni Triangle’.

Dozens of Iraqi youths cheered and danced in celebration as the contents of the flaming vehicles exploded. Witnesses said US troops came under subsequent attack with rocket-propelled grenades as they tried to approach the truck.

US troops and Iraqi police kept journalists away from the scene, but from a distance it appeared that three American vehicles, including at least one truck and one Humvee, were ablaze.

There were conflicting reports whether the attack in the eastern end of the city was triggered by a roadside bomb or by rocket-propelled grenades.

“Shells were flying everywhere, like fireworks,” said Khalil al-Qubaisi, 45, a nearby shopkeeper.

In the Kirkuk attack, an American mounted patrol was ambushed by rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire at 10.45pm yesterday, said Major Josslyn Aberle, spokeswoman for the 4th Infantry Division.

The patrol from Task Force Ironhorse – a force that includes the 4th Division - returned fire, but no additional enemy contact followed, Aberle said.

In other action in the north early on Sunday, US troops returned fire after being attacked by grenades and small arms. They killed three Iraqis during the gunfight, near Hawija, 150 miles north of Baghdad, the 4th Infantry Division reported.

Other American forces detained five attackers north of Beiji after a brief firefight, the division announced.

Resistance forces have mounted an average of 22 attacks a day on the US occupation forces in Iraq in recent weeks, mostly in the so-called ‘Sunni Triangle’, a Sunni Muslim-dominated area stretching from the west of Baghdad to the north. The area was a strong base of support for Saddam’s Baath Party regime, which was toppled earlier this year.