Americans face Iraq murder charge

Bomb attacks are almost a daily occurrence in Iraq

The United States military in Iraq has charged two soldiers serving in the capital, Baghdad, over the murder of an Iraqi civilian.

Details were not given of the charges against Staff Sgt Johnny Horne Jr and Staff Sgt Cardenas Alban, both from the Kansas-based 41st Infantry Regiment.

News of the charges came during a day of violence across Iraq.

US air strikes killed up to five people in Baghdad and at least three Iraqi troops died in a car bombing in Mosul.

Veteran unit

A US statement released in Baghdad confirmed the soldiers faced "the charge of murder under the Uniformed Code of Military Justice".

It added that there was no link between this charge and murder charges brought last week against two other soldiers from the same unit - 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment.

Sgt Michael Williams and Spc Brent May were charged in connection with the deaths of three Iraqis.

The 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry, has about 800 soldiers now serving on their second tour of duty in Iraq, the Associated Press reports.

Air strikes

Iraqi sources say at least five people were killed and more than 45 injured in pre-dawn air attacks on Monday by US forces on Baghdad's Sadr City suburb.

An American spokesman said the strikes had targeted "positively identified" militant hideouts in the area, a stronghold of Shia Muslim militants.

Raids continued on Monday evening, but there no immediate reports of casualties.

Militant mortar bombs also fell on a police academy in the east of the city but there were no reports of casualties.

In the northern city of Mosul, at least two Iraqi national guardsmen were killed and three people were wounded when a car bomb hit their patrol.

News has also emerged that at least four Iraqi civilians died and two were injured on Sunday near the town of Baquba, north of Baghdad, when they were hit by a roadside bomb.