3 U.S. troops killed by Iraqi politician

BAGHDAD, June 23 (UPI) -- Iraqi officials say a member of the city council in a town southeast of Baghdad shot and killed at least three U.S. soldiers Monday.

The shootings occurred as U.S. troops attempted to enter the city council building in al-Madaen. The councilman was armed with an AK-47 and was shot to death by return fire, the Interior Ministry told CNN.

In other violence, at least 10 people died in a mortar attack on an anti-al-Qaida in Iraq group in the violence-plagued Diyala province Sunday.

The attack stuck an office and checkpoint of the Awakening Councils or Sons of Iraq -- predominantly Sunni fighters allied with U.S.-Iraqi coalition forces, CNN reported Monday.

The attack happened in al-Adhaim, about 31 miles north of Baquba, a commander of the province's military operations told CNN. All of the dead were members of the Awakening Council.

Twenty-four other members were wounded.

Awakening Councils are mostly Sunni fighters who have turned against al-Qaida in Iraq and have played a major role in the decreased violence, U.S. military officials said. Because of this, al-Qaida in Iraq has stepped up its attacks on the groups.

The violence came the day before a U.S. report saying violence in Iraq fell during the first half of 2008, in part because of Awakening Council or similar groups, CNN reported.