The US military said on Sunday that seven more troops were killed. A roadside bomb killed four American troops patrolling western Baghdad, the military reported on Sunday, while another soldier died in a non-combat related incident.
The roadside bomb killed the four troops Saturday, the military said in a statement, cited by the AP. Small arms fire followed the explosion, injuring another soldier. The attack occurred as the soldiers were conducting patrols as part of a month-old security operation to end sectarian violence in the capital, the statement said.
Another soldier also died Saturday in a non-combat related incident, the military said in another statement.
Elsewhere, American soldiers captured 12 suspects Sunday in raids across Iraq, the military said. The operations targeted members of al-Qaeda in Iraq and others suspected of building and planting roadside bombs, the military said in a statement.
Five suspects were seized in Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, the statement said. All were accused of involvement in car bomb and rocket attacks on U.S. troops, it said.
Also in Anbar, troops captured three suspects accused of ties with al-Qaeda in Habbaniyah, 50 miles west of Baghdad, the military said.
In the capital, two men were detained for allegedly procuring bomb-making materials, the statement said.
And in Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, two others were detained. They were accused of helping foreign fighters come to Iraq, as well as of involvement in roadside bomb operations, it said.
In the capital, a car bomb killed seven Iraqis in a predominantly Shiite district on Sunday, police said. The attack targeted people cooking food at open-air grills in the street, to offer as charity on a Shiite Muslim holiday. Police said 26 people were injured.
Meanwhile, two policemen and two civilians died in separate incidents Sunday in Baghdad, police said. A roadside bomb hit an Iraqi police convoy in eastern Baghdad, killing two policemen and injuring five others, authorities said. Two vehicles were damaged.
Later, police said a mortar round hit a house in central Baghdad, killing a civilian and wounding another.
In Shorja market, Baghdad's most popular central shopping district, a man tossed a grenade into a group of workers, police said. One worker died and another was injured. The suspect escaped.
Police also found an unidentified man's body with signs of torture, dumped in central Diwaniyah.
