Insurgents attack Iraqi army patrol, killing four

Unidentified gunmen attacked an Iraqi army patrol today in a town north of Baghdad, killing four Iraqi troops, military officials said.

The attack occurred about 8am in the town of Dujail, 50 miles miles north of Baghdad, said Brig. Ali Kadhim.

Insurgents have regularly targeted Iraqi security forces in an attempt to further destabilise the country after the ousting of dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Hussein is expected to go to trial next month in the first of about 12 criminal cases being filed against him.

The former president, and three other former regime officials, are accused of the July 1982 massacre of an estimated 150 Shiites in Dujail in retaliation for a failed assassination attempt on him.