Five American soldiers have been killed in two separate attacks in Iraq today.
In the latest incident a car rammed a American military checkpoint in the western Iraqi town of Khaldiyah and exploded.
Three solidiers were killed and six wounded.
Earlier two American soldiers were killed when a bomb exploded beside the convoy in which they were travelling near the town of Falluja, west of Baghdad.
A car bomb earlier exploded in the Iraqi town of Samarra, killing at least four Iraqis and injuring 40 people, including seven US soldiers.
The bomb was in a vehicle that had been left outside a courthouse in the town, 125 km north of Baghdad.
Samarra lies within the so-called Sunni triangle where insurgents have waged persistent attacks against the continuing US occupation of Iraq.
Today's blast occurred just as a two-man UN security team began a mission in Iraq, ending a three-month absence of UN international staff since a spate of deadly attacks last year.
