BAGHDAD, Dec 28: Two Iraqi children were killed, along with a US soldier, in a bomb blast in Baghdad on Sunday morning that also left five soldiers, one Iraqi interpreter and eight Iraqi Civil Defence Corps members wounded, a US military spokesman told AFP.

“US soldiers were on a mounted patrol and that’s when the improvised explosive device detonated east of the Karrada district. It happened at 10:13am,” said Corporal Todd Pruden of the First Armoured Division.

“Two children were killed” along with one US soldier, the spokesman said. Five US soldiers, an Iraqi interpreter and eight ICDC members were also wounded in the attack.

The soldiers were all from the Second Armoured Cavalry Regiment.

A military spokesman had earlier described the attack as a double bomb blast.

Karrada is a predominantly Christian neighborhood with a shopping boulevard frequented by US troops. The death raises to 210 the number of US soldiers killed in action since President George W. Bush declared major hostilities in Iraq over on May 1.—AFP