Gunmen opened fire on a convoy of Iraqi Sunni pilgrims bound for the holy city of Mecca on Sunday, killing at least one person, while US forces claimed they killed 17 insurgents they said were preparing to ambush American troops.
The pilgrims were about 15 miles from the city of Baqouba when gunmen showered their convoy with machine gunfire, said a spokesman for Diyala province's Public Relations and Information Bureau, who asked not to be named, citing security procedures.
Elsewhere, a convoy of US troops ran into insurgents they claimed were planning an ambush near Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad. US warplanes killed three suspected insurgents in an initial attack and 14 more in a second in assault with ground forces.
The US attacks set off blasts among the insurgents that showed they had been armed with homemade mines and other explosives used to disable convoys.
"Despite the terrorists' ambush attempts, coalitions forces successfully continued their operation and detained three suspected terrorists," the military said in a statement.
Elsewhere, Iraqi and US forces encircled the town of Hawija, 165 miles north of Baghdad, and searched for armed men who had fired on patrols, said Brig. Sarhat Qadir of the police force in the nearby city of Kirkuk. The area lies near a key pipeline linking Kirkuk's oilfields to Turkey that has been the target of repeated insurgent attacks.
In Baqouba, gunmen shot dead two policemen at a downtown intersection, said an officer, who asked not to named because of procedures to protect the identity of police.
Last night, gunmen shot dead a translator for US forces outside a restaurant in Diwaniyah, 80 miles south of Baghdad, police said.
The violence came after a week of intensified exchanges between the United States and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who on four occasions challenged the US handling of the war.
Al-Maliki, whose Shia-dominated government is backed by US troops, was angered by the US ambassador's announcement last Tuesday that al-Maliki had agreed to a US plan to set timelines for progress in quelling Iraq's violence.
In a hastily arranged video conference with President Bush, al-Maliki said that the US president promised to move swiftly to turn over full control of the Iraqi army to the Baghdad government.
A close aid said the prime minister was intentionally playing on US voter displeasure with the war to strengthen his hand with Washington.
Al-Suneid said the video conference was sought because issues needed airing at a higher level than with US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad. Al-Suneid said the prime minister complained to Bush that Khalilzad, an Afghan-born Sunni Muslim, was treating the Shia al-Maliki imperiously.