Suicide bomber kills U.S. troops in Baghdad

Baghdad - A suicide bomber killed "some" American soldiers by blowing himself up at a military checkpoint in Baghdad soon after dusk on Thursday, a U.S. officer said.

"Some are dead in the attack but I don't know how many," Marine officer Matt Baker told reporters in the Iraqi capital.

A Marines spokesman said the man, dressed as a civilian, walked up to the checkpoint and detonated explosives strapped to his body.

He said the checkpoint was north of the Palestine Hotel in central Baghdad, where many journalists covering the war in Iraq are staying.

The spokesman confirmed that four Marines had been wounded but was unable to say if any had died.

He gave no other details. Military officials at Central Command war headquarters in Qatar confirmed there had been a suicide attack but gave no details of casualties.

CNN television had reported earlier that black smoke was still rising above the checkpoint several minutes after the man blew himself up.

The attack underlined the risk U.S. soldiers face despite taking control of Baghdad on Wednesday and the difficulties in preventing such attacks at checkpoints.

Iraq had warned the U.S.-led forces who invaded the country on March 20 to topple Saddam Hussein that Iraqi fighters would hit back using "unconventional" means.

U.S. military officials say some Iraqis are fighting on in some parts of the sprawling city of five million people.

"We've said all along there's pockets of resistance out there. It's still a dangerous place to be," a military official at Central Command said.

A suicide car bombing killed three American soldiers, a pregnant woman and the driver at a checkpoint northwest of Baghdad on April 5.

Four U.S. soldiers were killed by a suicide bombing at a checkpoint near the city of Najaf, about 100 miles south of Baghdad, on March 29. -- AFP

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