The Iraqi military said a suicide bomber has attacked a checkpoint near Mosul, killing seven people and wounding 12. The U.S. military confirmed the Wednesday night attack but puts the toll at five dead and 19 wounded.
The explosion took place in the Addayah area about 20 miles west of Mosul while Iraqi troops were checking vehicles. The dead include a woman and a 5-year-old child, the AP reported.
Meanwhile, American troops called in helicopter strikes during a clash with gunmen on Thursday in the southern Iraqi city of Hilla. Police sources in the Shi'ite city said five people had been killed in the predawn operation, including four policemen. According to Reuters, Sattar al-Jeshaami, spokesman for the main hospital in Hilla, said six bodies had been brought in after the clash, including four policemen. Some 15 people had been wounded, half of them civilians, he said.
Elsewhere, U.S. forces destroyed a house with an air strike late on Wednesday in Basra. Iraqi police sources said at least three people died including a mother, father and child, and three were seriously wounded.
