The U.S. military says American troops in northern Iraq have killed 14 insurgents in two attacks initiated by U.S. forces late Sunday and early Monday.
A U.S. statement says the fighting took place in the northern town of Tal Afar, and says there were no U.S. casualties.
In separate fighting near Baquba, insurgents stormed an Iraqi army checkpoint at daybreak, killing nine Iraqi soldiers. A short while later, a car bomb explosion in the area killed at least two people and wounded several others.
Two U.S. Marines were killed in combat on Sunday in the town of Hit near Iraq's border with Syria.
A burst of insurgent violence on Sunday killed at least 43 other people - most of them Iraqi army recruits and police.