BAGHDAD, Iraq – Insurgents attacked a U.S. convoy and a government building near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul (search), leaving at least four people dead, hospital workers said. Two Iraqi National Guard troops were also killed while trying to defuse a roadside bomb.
Insurgents fired on the convoy in Al-Qahira district, just north of Mosul, sparking a battle that left at least four people dead and two wounded, doctors at the Al-Jumhuri Teaching Hospital said. Insurgents also fired a rocket at the governor's building in Mosul, killing one woman and one man, as well as injuring four others, officials at the hospital said.
Two Iraqi National Guard (search) troops were killed on Mosul's airport road while trying to diffuse a roadside bomb, police said.
U.S. and insurgent forces have fought fierce battles in recent days in Mosul, 360 kilometers (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad.
Fierce clashes broke out Saturday after American troops, responding to a mortar attack on one of their bases, were attacked with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades by insurgents inside a mosque, U.S. officials said.
The insurgents disabled a U.S. Army tank and a Stryker armored vehicle during the battle, which raged for hours around the mosque, Lt. Col. Erik Kurilla said. U.S. troops killed nine insurgents but suffered no fatalities, Kurilla said.
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