At least seven US soldiers have been killed in a huge car bomb on the outskirts of the Iraqi city of Fallujah today.
US forces have not patrolled inside Fallujah since April, when US marines ended a three-week siege and handed over control of security to the Fallujah Brigade, which is made up of officers who served in Saddam Hussein's army.
The city has since fallen into the hands of insurgents who have used it as a base to manufacture car bombs and launch attacks on US and Iraqi government forces.
It was the largest US death toll from a single attack for five months and raises the number of US troops killed in action in Iraq since the start of the war to at least 739.
The official Pentagon death toll for US personnel in Iraq has now reached at least 985.