Three coalition soldiers and two other people have been killed in an apparent suicide car bombing at a checkpoint north-west of Baghdad.

US Central Command in Qatar said the incident occurred on Thursday evening 18 kilometres from the Haditha Dam and about 130 km (80 miles) from the Iraq-Syria border.

"A pregnant female stepped out of the vehicle and began screaming in fear," a statement said.

"At this point the civilian vehicle exploded, killing three coalition force members who were approaching the vehicle and wounding two others."

The woman and the driver were also killed.

The incident occurred in an area where special forces are present but where US-led forces are thin on the ground.

US Marine Captain Stewart Upton told the Reuters news agency: "We are treating it as another desperate act of a dying regime that knows they're in trouble."

The BBC's correspondent in Qatar, Paul Adams, says there are suspicions people are being made to carry suicide bombs.

Saddam's reward

It is the second suicide car bombing in Iraq.

The coalition tightened checkpoint procedures after the Najaf blast

On 29 March, an Iraqi officer posing as a taxi driver detonated his car at an army checkpoint near the central city of Najaf, killing four US soldiers.

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein later honoured the officer and gave his family a large sum of money.

The Iraqi Government promised more suicide attacks.

Coalition troops were put on heightened alert after the first attack and there have since been incidents of soldiers firing on civilian vehicles that have approached checkpoints.

Eleven members of the same family were killed when troops fired on their vehicle near Najaf this week.

The family reportedly said they misunderstood coalition leaflets instructing them to flee to seek safety.

For your reference:

Reuters: 路透社 regime: 政权 civilian: 平民 leaflets: 传单 flee: 逃跑 blast: 爆炸

Challenger II tanks have also seen action in Kosovo and Bosnia

Two British soldiers have been killed in a 'friendly fire' incident during fierce fighting outside the southern Iraqi city of Basra.

The pair from the Queen's Royal Lancers were killed when their Challenger II tank came under fire early on Tuesday morning. Two others were seriously injured.

According to a reports, their vehicle was fired on by another British tank.

A British military spokesman said the incident happened during a period of multiple engagements with Iraqi forces on the outskirts of Basra.

The families of those killed and injured are now being informed.

The deaths follow an incident on Sunday when a British pilot and navigator shot down in their RAF Tornado jet by American patriot missile battery.

A British military spokesman said: "Regardless of training, planning and other measures, in this type of operation in the heat of battle there is always the risk that such incidents might always occur."

A full-scale investigation into the accident has been launched.

The turret of the Challenger is reported to have been blown off in the attack, which happened in pitch darkness.

For your reference:

outskirt: 边界 RAF: Royal Air Force, 英国皇家空军 patriot missile: 爱国者导弹（美） full-scale: 全面的     turret: 炮塔 Kosovo: 科索沃

Special Thanks to the BBC