US convoy ambushed near Baghdad
A US military convoy has come under heavy fire to the west of Baghdad.
A least one vehicle was badly damaged in the ambush and three American soldiers have reportedly been killed.
The attack happened at the town of Khaldiyah when an explosive device on a road in the town blew up a truck transporting troops.
Soldiers attempting to evacuate casualties are believed to have come under a hail of gunfire.
A US army spokesman in Baghdad confirmed there had been an incident but said he had no further information.
Pictures from the scene showed a military vehicle burning. News agencies have quoted witnesses as saying several soldiers in the vehicle were burnt.
“A bomb exploded underneath a troop transport. It caught fire. The remainder of the convoy tried to continue and was hit by rocket-propelled grenades 500 metres [1600 ft] away,” Khaldiyah resident Mahmud Ali told French news agency AFP.
US forces have closed off the road and called in reinforcements, according to witness reports.
The town of Khaldiyah is part the so-called “Sunni Triangle” where support for Saddam Hussein is strongest. On Monday, Khaldiyah’s police chief was shot dead while driving out of the town.
Witnesses reported that earlier in the day US soldiers in Iraq shot dead a 14-year-old boy and wounded at least four others in the flashpoint town of Falluja after mistaking celebratory gunfire at a wedding for an enemy attack.
The incident comes days after the US was forced to apologise after shooting dead eight Iraqi security personnel and a Jordanian involved in a car chase with rebels.
