A suicide bomber blew himself up among Iraqi army volunteers in a town near the Syrian border Friday, killing 25 people and injuring 35 others. Al-Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility.
An Internet statement posted in the name of Al-Qaeda in Iraq said "One of the lions of a martyrdom brigade of al-Qaeda in Iraq carried out a heroic operation after he wore an explosive belt and entered a center of the idol-worshipping volunteers."
Also on Friday, the U.S. military said gunmen killed two Marines in western Iraq.
An American soldier died in Baghdad from injuries suffered in a single-vehicle accident, the U.S. command said.
Elsewhere, U.S. and Iraqi forces killed nine fighters, five of whom were reported to be Syrians, in a village northwest of Baghdad, the U.S. military said on Friday.
The fighters had fired rocket-propelled grenades and small arms at an American and Iraqi patrol, the military said in a statement, cited by Reuters.
U.S. forces responded with an air strike which demolished buildings that the US army said the "guerrillas were using as safe houses and firing positions."
"Iraqi security forces and coalition forces killed nine terrorists, five of which were reportedly Syrian nationals," said the military.
