IRAQ:A group led by al-Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility yesterday for a suicide truck bomb that killed nine US soldiers and wounded 20 on Monday in one of the worst attacks on US ground forces since the invasion in 2003.
"Two knights from the Islamic State in Iraq . . . driving two booby-trapped trucks hit the heart of the crusader American headquarters in the region of Diyala," a statement from the self-styled militant group said in ainternet posting.
The US military said only one suicide attacker was involved in the attack on a military outpost at Diyala, north of Baghdad, scene of fierce fighting between US troops and Sunni Arab insurgents and al-Qaeda militants.
Two witnesses said the outpost was located in an old school in the village of al-Mukhisa.
One said an initial suicide truck bomb exploded inside the yard after ramming through barricades. Another suicide truck bomb followed shortly after, he said. The second witness said the explosions were followed by a raging gun battle.
Near the city of Ramadi in western Anbar province, a suicide truck bomb killed 25 people and wounded 44 yesterday, police said. They said the attack targeted police and civilians.
While frontal assaults by insurgents against heavily fortified US bases in Iraq are rare, a two-month-old security plan that places troops in less-protected garrisons in Baghdad and neighbouring areas has exposed them to greater risk.
In an interview on an Egyptian TV station broadcast in Iraq yesterday, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Iraq had become the "most prominent arena in the fight against al-Qaeda".
The bombing of the US outpost came as a showdown between President George Bush and Congress deepened over Democrat efforts to set a timetable for the withdrawal of 150,000 troops. Congress will vote this week on a funding bill that sets March 31st, 2008, as the goal for pulling out most troops, but Mr Bush yesterday pledged to use his veto.
A US military statement said the attack in Diyala took place near Baquba, capital of the province, a religiously mixed area where US commanders last month sent 1,000 extra troops.
At least 86 American troops have been killed in Iraq this month, making April the deadliest since December, when 112 were killed.
Meanwhile yesterday, gunmen also raided a neighbourhood in Baquba, killing six people and wounding 15, police said. A suicide car bomber on Monday killed 10 Iraqi policemen during a gathering of senior police officials in Baquba, including the city's police chief.