Four US soldiers killed in rocket attack

Four US soldiers were killed and seven injured before dawn today when two rockets slammed into a US base north of Baghdad, US military officials said.

Two 57-mm rockets hit the base in Taji at 5.30am, said Air Force Lt. Col. Sam Hudspath.

Taji is a former Iraqi air force base 12 miles north of Baghdad that is now used by the US Army’s 1st Cavalry Division.

Meanwhile a car bomb exploded near the main US base in the northern city of Tikrit, killing at least three people.

A suicide bomber appeared to be driving the car when it exploded outside the outer wall of the base, said Master Sgt. Robert Powell of the 1st Infantry Division.

The car detonated near a row of shops outside the base, Powell said. Ambulances and fire trucks rushed to the scene, he added.

Witnesses reported seeing wreckage of vehicles with at least three bodies. The blast targeted a convoy of Iraqi officials heading to the Mayor office in Tikrit, they said.