Helicopter strike kills 11 in Iraq

BAGHDAD (CNN) -- Violence in several Iraqi locations on Tuesday left more than a dozen people dead, according to authorities.

The U.S. military said 11 people, thought to be a mix of insurgents and civilians, were killed near Samarra when a U.S. helicopter crew fired on people who were setting up a roadside bomb.

It said an Apache helicopter crew observed some military-aged males planting a roadside bombing in the Samarra area and "engaged the emplacers," who fled into a house.

The helicopter fired on the structure, killing "five military-aged men" and six civilians. Five civilians were wounded. The military said it is unclear whether women and children were killed in the incident.

One of those killed was a suspected roadside bomb cell member, it said.

The military said the incident took place northwest of a town called Mukashlah, between Samarra and Tikrit.

Police in Samarra earlier said 10 people were killed and 10 were wounded in the airstrike near the Salaheddin province city, a volatile region during the Iraqi war. Police said there were reports of women and children among the casualties.

Elsewhere in northern Iraq, a roadside bomb exploded near a minibus northeast of the Diyala province city of Baquba Tuesday morning, killing three Iraqis and wounding eight, police said.

One woman was among the dead and three were among the wounded.

According to authorities, the dead and wounded were members of a family traveling to Baquba for a wedding. Baquba is north of Baghdad and is the Diyala provincial seat.

Iraq's Interior Ministry said police clashed with gunmen in central Baghdad's Mansour district. A policeman and a gunman were killed, and three police and two gunmen were wounded.

Coalition forces killed a suspected insurgent and detained 28 people during operations Monday and Tuesday "to disrupt terrorist networks in central and northern parts of Iraq," the U.S. military said.

The operations took place west of Kirkuk, in Baiji, west of Tarmiya, northwest of Tal Afar, and southwest of Balad.

Troops in Baghdad on Tuesday detained two wanted people and another suspect in an effort "to disrupt the car bombing network in Baghdad," the military said.

U.S. attack helicopter crews in northern Baghdad on Monday targeted insurgents emplacing a roadside bomb, killing one "extremist" and wounding five, the military said.

An Iraqi was killed and 16 people were wounded in two roadside bombings on Monday in eastern Baghdad, officials said. Two of those injured were police. E-mail to a friend

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh and Jennifer Deaton contributed to this report.