A man detonated a suicide vest inside a home in northern Iraq as U.S. forces were trading gunfire with its occupants, according to the American military. Eleven Iraqis were killed in the operation early Sunday. No U.S. casualties were reported in the incident in Mosul, where war continues to rage despite a sharp drop in violence in much of the rest of the country.
At least five other Iraqis were killed Sunday in the city, which is about 240 miles north of Baghdad. Four were slain when gunmen opened fire during a funeral in the Zanjili area of Mosul, and an Iraqi police officer was shot by a sniper elsewhere in the city, according to local police and Interior Ministry officials.
The American raid occurred early Sunday morning as U.S. troops sought to capture a wanted man, according to an Iraqi army source and a statement from U.S. forces. People in the residence began shooting and U.S. troops returned fire, the military said. A man in the house then detonated a suicide vest, it said.
Eleven people died during the operation -- five suspected insurgents, three women and three children aged 2 to 4, according to the military.
It was not clear how many died in the firefight and how many perished in the explosion, said a U.S. military spokesman, Tech. Sgt. Chris Stagner.
After securing the house, troops searched it and discovered explosives and small arms, the statement said. Two other children, one of them injured, were found nearby, it said.
"This is just another tragic example of how al-Qaeda in Iraq hides behind innocent Iraqis," said another military spokesman, Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll, referring to the largely homegrown Sunni insurgent group active here.