BAGHDAD, Dec 13: Seven people were killed in a Baghdad suicide bombing after a bloody weekend which saw nine US troops killed, signalling that coalition forces remain beset by a fierce insurgency on the first anniversary of toppled dictator Saddam Hussein's capture.

At least seven Iraqis were killed and 19 others wounded, many seriously, when a suicide car bomb exploded at a checkpoint outside the highly-fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, hospital sources said. "There were no multinational forces personnel wounded or killed," said US army Lt-Col James Hutton.

Two mortar rounds also landed in the Green Zone, which houses Iraq's interim government and foreign embassies including the US mission, and is frequently the target of attacks.

The attacks followed a weekend of bloody clashes in Fallujah, where fighting flared after days of relative calm following last month's blistering assault on the rebel city.

Iraq's interim President Ghazi al-Yawar blamed the continuing lawlessness on the decision by the former US-led occupation authorities to dismantle the country's armed forces after toppling Saddam.

US war planes pounded eastern Fallujah on Monday, according to an AFP correspondent embedded with the marines. The air strikes followed the killing of eight marines at the weekend in the restive western Al-Anbar province, which hosts Fallujah.

A US soldier also died of his wounds Saturday in Baghdad after his patrol was ambushed, the army said. The latest figures from the Pentagon - released December 10 - put the number of US troops killed in combat in Iraq since the start of last year's invasion at 1,007. The violence came as US and Iraqi forces struggle to bring order to the country just weeks ahead of next month's planned elections. -AFP