Gunmen ambushed an Iraqi army patrol in a flashpoint town near Fallujah, west of Baghdad, on Tuesday, killing two soldiers and wounding five others, a local journalist told Xinhua.

The attack took place in the morning when unknown armed men opened fire at the army patrol in Ameriyat al-Fallujah town, south of Fallujah, Abdul Rahman said.

In a separate incident, a suicide car bomber drove his explosive-laden car into a US military patrol late last night in the Garma town, east of Fallujah, Rahman said.

The suicide attack destroyed a US Humvee, causing casualties among the soldiers aboard, he said.

The powerful blast prompted the US soldiers to open fire haphazardly, wounding two civilians and causing damage in several nearby houses, he added.

Fallujah, a city some 50 km west of Baghdad in the restive Anbar province, along with nearby towns and villages, has witnessed frequent insurgent attacks against the US and Iraqi forces in the past two and a half years of violence.

(Xinhua News Agency November 9, 2005)