FALLUJAH, June 9: Rebels killed on Wednesday 12 members of an Iraqi security force entrusted with pacifying the country's most restive town.

The attack was believed to be the first time Gen Mohammed Latif's Fallujah Brigade had come under fire since it set out to impose security last month following fierce fighting between US troops and guerillas.

US troops have pulled back from the city under a deal to deploy the force. Fallujah is on the front line of efforts to stabilize Iraq, which is banking on local forces and police to play a bigger security role, backed by a US-led multinational force, after the United States hands sovereignty on June 30.

Officers in the Fallujah Brigade said 10 people were wounded in the mortar attack on a camp housing the forces. Latif was not in the area at the time and no US troops could be seen, they said.

A medical official said six of the dead had been taken to his hospital. Fiercely anti-American Fallujah has been relatively calm since Latif and other former Iraqi generals offered to help US troops restore calm in the town.

The US wants Gen Latif to rein in guerillas, help capture or kill foreign fighters and collect weapons from the fighters. He describes Fallujah as a town of peace-loving people and believes US troops should go home. -Reuters