U.S. Troops Kill 11 Iraqi Ambushers

U.S. troops killed 11 Iraqis who ambushed a convoy on a highway north of Baghdad Friday, hours after mortar rounds slammed into a U.S. base in the same area, injuring 18 American soldiers, the military said.

Another U.S. soldier was shot and killed while guarding the Baghdad museum, the U.S. military said Friday.

The U.S. military said 11 men attacked the convoy with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire near Balad, 55 miles north of the capital. Soldiers of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division fired back, killing all the men. None of the Americans was injured.

Late Thursday, blasts from four mortar rounds rocked a huge U.S. base near Balad, injuring 18 soldiers, said Maj. Edward Bryja, of the Army’s 3rd Corps Support Command.

Two soldiers were seriously injured, with one undergoing surgery in a hospital located on the base and another evacuated for treatment, Bryja said. Others suffered cuts and small punctures from flying shrapnel, and nine soldiers quickly went back to duty, Army officials said.