US troops pounded an Iraqi village north of Baghdad Sunday night, wounding five civilians including children, police said on Monday.

"US troops backed by a helicopter pounded a small village -- Um al-Talaiyeb near Samarra, with mortar rounds, wounding four children and seriously injuring a woman and damaging four houses," police officer Col. Hassan Ahmed told Xinhua.

"The US military said that the attack was launched on the village according to information that many insurgents who attacked US troops by roadside bombs on the highway between Baghdad and Tikrit, reside in the village. And probably there are foreign fighters," Ahmed from Salahudin police bureau said.

Samarra, some 120 km north of Baghdad, has long been witnessing tensions as insurgents frequently attack US and Iraqi security forces.

Source: Xinhua