Al Qaeda claims killing of 9 U.S. troops in Iraq

By Ibon Villelabeitia and Dean Yates

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A group led by Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility on Tuesday for two suicide truck bomb that killed nine U.S. soldiers and wounded 20 in one of the worst attacks on U.S. ground forces since the invasion in 2003.

"Two knights from the Islamic State in Iraq ... driving two booby-trapped trucks hit the heart of the Crusader American headquarters in the region of Diyala," a statement from the Sunni group of the Islamic State in Iraq said in a Web posting.

In an interview to an Egyptian television station broadcast in Iraq on Tuesday, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Iraq had become the "most prominent arena in the fight against al Qaeda".

The U.S. military said on Tuesday night that two suicide trucks were involved in Monday's strike on a military outpost at Diyala, north of Baghdad, scene of fierce fighting between U.S. troops and Sunni Arab insurgents and al Qaeda militants.

It said in a statement one of the trucks exploded along an outer barrier, while the other blew up 30 metres from the base building. "The explosive blast from the second truck ruptured the wall of the patrol base building, collapsing the second floor and causing the majority of the soldier casualties".

It said nine soldiers were killed and 20 wounded. Most of the wounded later returned to duty.

Witnesses said the outpost was located in an old school in the village of al-Mukhisa.

"The building collapsed ... There was a huge fire," said one witness, who declined to be identified, describing the aftermath of the second truck bomb.