BAGHDAD: At least five Iraqis, mostly children, were killed and 35 wounded on Sunday in two suicide car bomb attacks targeted at American and Iraqi soldiers, the US military said.

"In the first suicide car bomb, the one targeting coalition forces but with no coalition casualties, we have five killed and 10 wounded," US army spokesman Staff Sergeant Sam Smith said.

Among the dead were three young boys, one six, one seven and one of unknown age, he said.

"The second car bomb was targeting Iraqi police and wounded 25 Iraqis. We don''t know how many were police or civilians," Smith said.

The two attacks took place in the western part of Mosul, one of Iraq''s most dangerous cities and the last urban stronghold of Al-Qaeda in Iraq.

The US army could not say if the attacks happened in the largely Christian neighbourhoods which have been the target of a campaign of violence in recent days.

Nearly 1,000 Christian families have fled their homes in the city since Friday for fear of being targeted.