Seven Iraqis believed to have been stealing fuel from a pipeline were killed on Sunday in a firefight with US troops near the town of Samarra, north of Baghdad, the US military said on Monday.
Master Sergeant Robert Cargie, spokesman of the 4th Infantry Division based in the northern city of Tikrit, said that US troops approaching the pipeline had encountered about 40 men armed with AK-47 automatic rifles.
Cargie said soldiers had been led to the pipeline, 18 kilometres (12 miles) south of Samarra, by an Iraqi informant.
"As they tried to capture them (the Iraqis), the soldiers came under fire. They returned fire, killing seven," Cargie said, adding that three fuel trucks were destroyed as well as a transport truck.