Four US soldiers have been killed and six wounded in an attack on a patrol near the northern Iraqi town of Baiji.

Police in the town said two Humvee patrol vehicles and a larger armoured vehicle were wrecked and burnt out.

They were surrounded by US troops after the incident.

The US military said the attack happened at 11.30pm (1930 GMT) on Tuesday.

It gave no details of what kind of weapons were used.

But there has been a series of big roadside bomb attacks on US patrols in recent weeks that have destroyed armoured vehicles and cost many lives.

Just last week, 14 Marines were killed when a landmine flipped over an amphibious armoured vehicle near Haditha, west of Baghdad.

It was the deadliest such incident of the war.

PHOTO CAPTION

A US soldier Aug 9 2005 in Baghdad, Iraq. (AP)