Two US Marines were killed and three others missing along with a sailor when a suicide car bomber struck a US military convoy in the flashpoint city of Fallujah, the US military said on Friday.

Another 13 soldiers were wounded in the blast that occurred on Thursday night, when an improvised suicide vehicle borne explosive device struck a US military convoy in the city, the military said in a statement.

Two marines were killed and four others believed to be missing, including a sailor, the statement said.

An earlier US military statement said, a car bomber hit troops assigned to the II Marine Expeditionary Force in Fallujah.

Meanwhile, a resident in Fallujah told Xinhua on Friday that a roadside bomb blast took place late Thursday near the main US military checkpoint at the eastern entrance of the city, destroying a US Humvee, killing and wounding the US soldiers aboard."

An Islamic militant group al-Qaeda wing in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attack, saying two Humvees were destroyed in the attack and six "crusaders" were killed, the group said in a statement posted on the Internet.

The authenticity of the statement could not be verified.

Fallujah, 50 km west of Baghdad, has long been a stronghold of insurgents who have fought US troops and Iraqi security forces.

Source: Xinhua