Fourteen suspected insurgents have been killed by US forces in northwestern Iraq, the US military said Tuesday in a statement.

The statement said 10 insurgents were killed on Monday in fighting in Tal Afar in northwestern Iraq and four others were killed on Sunday in an exchange of fire with US soldiers.

US troops also detained five insurgent suspects in the area in the last two days, the statement added.

Tal Afar, some 70 km west of Iraq's northern city of Mosul, has been a hotbed of insurgency against the US and Iraqi troops.

Source: Xinhua