7 al-Qaeda 'terrorists' killed in US air raid

The strike also left two children dead.

"Coalition forces killed seven terrorists, wounded three, and detained an additional two terrorists during a raid in the vicinity of Baquba June 12," the military said in a statement.

"The targeted terrorists have been linked to previous coalition operations and had ties to senior al-Qaeda leaders across Iraq. Intelligence also indicates this particular terrorist cell is involved in the facilitation of foreign fighters in the area."

The military said coalition forces received enemy machine gun fire from a rooftop upon arriving at the objective.

"Two other individuals with AK-47s had been seen fleeing that area just prior to the assault. Coalition aircraft supporting the ground force immediately suppressed the enemy fire, killing seven."

It said there were numerous women and children on the scene.

"Following the assault, coalition troops discovered two children had been killed. One child was wounded and evacuated for treatment," the military said.

It added that troops secured one rocket propelled grenade launcher, five rockets, nine AK-47 assault rifles and 20 loaded ammunition magazines.

On Wednesday al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed near Baquba in an air-strike.

Witnesses said the raid left a total of nine killed.

Mohammed Abbas, a relative of the victims, said the raid was triggered following an error on part of the local guard in the village of Hashmiyat, west of Baquba, where the air strike was carried out.

"We were sleeping on the rooftop at midnight when one of the local guards fired in the air as he saw individuals who he thought were insurgents ... unfortunately they turned out to be US troops on foot patrol," he said.

"The US forces responded fiercely and struck several houses first and later concentrated on one house. We later discovered that nine members of the house, including seven children and youngsters were killed while four members are missing."

Another witness Shahin Abdullah at the local hospital where the bodies were brought described the US attack as "fierce."

Earlier two employees of Iraq's oil ministry were killed when the bus they were travelling on in Baghdad's southern Al-Dora district was hit by a roadside bomb Monday, an interior ministry official said.

In a separate incident in Baghdad's northern Shuala neighbourhood, gunmen wounded two teachers, a man and woman.

Four Iraqi army soldiers were killed late Sunday when a suicide car bomber blew himself up at a newly set up checkpoint outside the restive city of Baquba, police said Monday.

The attack occurred at around 8:00 pm (1600 GMT) on a highway between Baquba and Al-Ghalabiyah, a town 25km west of Baquba.