Baghdad bomb kills five US soldiers

Five US  soldiers were killed and three others wounded in a bomb blast in central Baghdad today.

Five US  soldiers were killed and three others wounded in a bomb blast in central Baghdad today.

An Iraqi interpreter was also wounded in the explosion, which hit the soldiers while they were on foot patrol, the US military said.

Iraqi police said the soldiers had been walking in the street in Mansour district when a suicide bomber wearing an explosives vest walked up to them and blew himself up.

The US military said four soldiers were killed in the blast and one died later of wounds.

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Earlier today, a female suicide bomber killed a prominent Sunni Arab tribal chief and three others in the Iraqi province of Diyala today.

Police said the woman went to the home of Thaer Saggban al-Karkhi in Kanaan, southeast of the provincial capital Baquba, knocked on the door and told guards she needed to speak to him.

When Karkhi came to the door she detonated a vest packed with explosives hidden underneath her robes. Karkhi's niece was among the dead, and two of his bodyguards were wounded.

Karkhi was leader of one of the neighbourhood security units have been credited for sharp falls in violence across Iraq. They have increasingly come under attack by Sunni Islamists, however, as they work with the US military.

Last month, two female bombers killed 99 people in two crowded Baghdad pet markets.

Several hours after the Baghdad attack, a suicide car bomber blew himself up in front of a large hotel in the Iraqi province of Sulaimaniya, wounding 13 people.

Provincial governor Dana Ahmed said the explosion damaged the front of the Sulaimaniya Palace Hotel, the biggest hotel in the province and a frequent meeting place for officials.