At least 10 people were wounded in the blast, and 90 percent of the casualties were policemen, said Nazar al-Hiti, a doctor in the town of Hit, around 155 miles west of Baghdad, where the dead and wounded were taken.

Two US soldiers were killed and three wounded yesterday when their convoy was targeted by a roadside bomb attack in the Iraqi capital, the US military said.

"Two Task Force Baghdad soldiers were killed when their patrol struck an improvised explosive device at about 11:30 am (0830 GMT) in northwestern Baghdad," it said in a statement.

Another US soldier was killed and two more injured yesterday in a road accident southeast of Baghdad, the military said.

On Sunday alone, two marines were killed in clashes during an anti-insurgency operation south of Baghdad, three US servicemen were killed in clashes in Sunni bastions of western Iraq and another American soldier died in a road accident.

The month of November, which saw the US-led assault on the rebel city of Fallujah, has been one of the deadliest for American troops in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion.

Insurgents trying to drive out US-led troops and topple the American-backed government of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi have repeatedly attacked Iraqi police and soldiers, and the US military has warned that violence will worsen in Iraq as elections scheduled for Jan. 30 approach.