MOSUL, Jan 28: Five US soldiers were killed in flashpoint Mosul city on Monday when their patrol was struck by a roadside bomb and then attacked by gunmen holed up in a nearby mosque, the American military said.

The attack comes days after the city was rocked by devastating blasts that killed dozens, including a police chief, and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki promised a “decisive battle” against Al Qaeda in its last urban stronghold.

US military spokeswoman in northern Iraq, Major Kageleiry, said the soldiers had been conducting a mounted patrol when their vehicle detonated a roadside bomb, killing five soldiers.

“Insurgents attacked the other soldiers in the patrol with small arms fire from a nearby mosque.

“Iraqi army forces and coalition forces secured the area and returned fire on the insurgents. The Iraqi army entered the mosque, but the insurgents had fled the area,” Kageleiry said.

Iraqi and US forces are engaged in an extensive operation against Al Qaeda in Mosul as part of a nationwide crackdown on the jihadis codenamed Operation Phantom Phoenix launched on Jan 8.—AFP