About 35 insurgents were killed and more than 40 others wounded in a joint raid launched by multinational and Iraqi security forces south of Baghdad early Wednesday, the US military said.

"Approximately 35 anti-Iraqi force members were killed and more than 40 were detained," in the joint raid around the town of Suwariyah at 7:00 a.m. (0300 GMT), a statement said.

The statement added that Ukrainian, US and Iraqi troops took part in the operation, in which no multinational soldiers were wounded.

Earlier Wednesday, a source from a hospital in the nearby city of Kut said five officers from the Iraqi security forces were killed and 48 others wounded in clashes with insurgents in the town of Suwariyah, some 70 km south of Baghdad.

Suwaiyrah is currently under the control of some 6,200 multinational troops from 16 countries led by Polish troops.