September 21, 2005

BAGHDAD (AFX) - US forces launched air strikes on the Sunni town of Dhuluiyah, an Iraqi security official said, where four US civilian contractors were killed a day earlier in an ambush on their convoy.

'The US army has been conducting operations, including air strikes, since Tuesday in the Al-Jabour district of Dhuluiyah,' 70 km north of Baghdad, the official said, adding that US forces had sealed off the area.

There was no immediate word from the US military on the operation and a casualty toll was not available.

A US military statement said four civilian contractors were killed and two others, in addition to two soldiers, were wounded in 'a complex attack on a Combat Logistic Patrol' in Dhuluiyah yesterday.

One Iraqi police officer was detained during the incident for drawing his weapon on a US soldier, the statement added.

Up to 12 trucks marked Al-Khudairi, a Kuwaiti company, and escorted by three US army Humvees, were believed to have become lost in the area after taking a wrong turn.

By the time they turned back, rebels had prepared ambushes along a stretch of four km, resident Montazer al-Jabouri told AFP.