Islamist insurgent group The Islamic State of Iraq said it killed 25 US soldiers in two attacks in Diyala province, some 60 kilometres north-east of Baghdad, according to a statement published on Islamist websites Monday, DPA reported.
The statement said that the first operation was on June 9, when a car bomb attack targeted "the fortified headquarters of the local administration of al-Muqdadiya city."
The suicide bomber was able to drive the car between vehicles of US and Iraqi soldiers, adding that explosion led to the destruction of the main vehicle carrying US soldiers, and killed everyone inside it, the statement claimed.
On June 11, another car bomb targeted a US military patrol in the Jalawla area of eastern Baquba city, Diyala's capital. The blast left at least 10 US soldiers killed, the statement said.
Independent confirmation of the claim was not immediately available.
In the June 11 attack, the US army at the time had reported two of its soldiers killed and six wounded.
The Islamic State of Iraq is an umbrella organization made up of Islamist insurgent groups, including al-Qaeda's Iraqi branch, which once declared Baquba as its capital.
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