Two suicide car bombers blew up their cars at a US military base near a customs station in the town of Qaim by the Iraqi-Syrian border on Monday, Qatar-based al-Jazeera TV channel reported.

The first blast took place after a suicide bomber drove an explosive-laden vehicle into a checkpoint outside the US base before the gate of the customs station, and then the second suicide car bomb blew up, causing several casualties, the channel said.

Clashes immediately broke out between insurgents and US and Iraqi forces in the area after the attack, al-Jazeera said citing witnesses at the scene.

Qaim, some 400 km west of Baghdad, has been the scene of violence and insurgency against the US forces since the US-led invasion in 2003. The US troops believe weapons and insurgents often infiltrate from Syria through Qaim into Iraq.

Source: Xinhua