US troops killed in Iraq attack

Three US troops have been killed and eight others injured in an explosion north of Baghdad, US military officials have said.

Witnesses said soldiers were attacked in Tarmiyah, about 35km (20 miles) north-east of the capital.

US officials said the soldiers were on a foot patrol when they were hit by the blast, caused by an improvised device.

Iraq's government meanwhile says it has caught a top aide to wanted al-Qaeda militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Loud explosion

Lt Col Clifford Kent, of the US Army's 3rd Infantry Division, told the Associated Press news agency three soldiers were killed and eight others wounded by the device.

I saw bodies flying Waleed Nahed, eyewitness

The news agency said residents and one of its reporters saw about a dozen soldiers lying on the ground after the attack.

"I was heading to our house... there was a group of American soldiers walking in the road while around five Humvees [armoured vehicles] were parking behind them," Waleed Nahed, 35, was quoted by AP as saying.

"I heard a very loud explosion and I saw bodies flying," he said.

AP quoted residents in Tarmiyah as saying helicopters landed in the area 15 minutes after the explosion and ferried casualties away.

The road has been sealed off by Iraqi forces and US troops.

The soldiers were believed to be from Task Force Baghdad, largely made up of 1st Cavalry Division troops.

Aide caught

The Iraqi government said on Friday it had captured Talib Mikhlif Arsan Walman al-Dulaymi, also known as Abu Qutaybah, a lieutenant of Zarqawi.

It said Mr Qutaybah was arrested on 20 February in Anah, north-west of Baghdad and about 60km (40 miles) from the border with Syria.

"Abu Qutaybah was responsible for determining who, when and how terrorist network leaders would meet with Zarqawi," the government said in a statement.

"Abu Qutaybah filled the role of key lieutenant for the Zarqawi network, arranging safe houses and transportation as well as passing packages and funds to Zarqawi."

Jordanian-born Zarqawi is wanted in connection with a string of car bombings, kidnappings and beheadings in Iraq.

Syria on Thursday dismissed claims by purported Iraqi insurgents that they had Syrian backing as "utterly baseless".

US-funded al-Iraqiya TV station showed several men "confessing" to having been trained and financed by Syrian intelligence, but Syria's state news agency Sana quoted security officials as saying the claims were "unfounded".