A car bomb went off in the flash point city of Fallujah near an Iraqi army patrol on Saturday, causing casualties, witnesses said.

"A car bomb parking on the side of a road near the industrial district in Fallujah detonated near an Iraqi army patrol at about 9:30 a.m. (0630 GMT)," Abdula Rahman, a local journalist who fled the scene unhurt, told Xinhua.

The powerful blast destroyed an army vehicle, killing and wounding all the soldiers aboard, and damaged another vehicle nearby, he said, without giving detailed figures.

US and Iraqi troops rushed to the area and sealed off the scene as helicopters flew overhead, said witnesses.

Fighting in Fallujah, a Sunni Muslim enclave of some 50 km west of Baghdad, still flares as sporadic attacks are launched by insurgents from time to time at US and Iraqi forces.

Source: Xinhua