Iraq insurgents killed 11 soldiers today as Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari promised more protection for diplomats after the abduction and murder of Egypt's head of mission.
Nine of the troops were killed in a dawn raid on a checkpoint outside Khales north of Baghdad in which six soldiers and three civilians were also wounded, police said.
The insurgents opened fire on the troops and then detonated a truck bomb when reinforcements arrived. The explosives were hidden amidst a cargo of melons.
The town has seen repeated unrest by Sunni Arab insurgents. On 15 June, a suicide bomber dressed in army uniform blew himself up at an army camp in Khales, killing 23 people and wounding 29.
South of the capital, two soldiers were shot dead as they searched homes near the town of Al-Azisiyah for a fugitive suspect, the army said.
The violence followed a spate of no fewer than seven suicide bombings on Sunday that killed at least 34 people.
The US military revealed that two marines were also among more than a dozen people killed in other violence during the day.
