A dump truck loaded with explosives and nitric acid, aiming at attacking a joint U.S. and Iraqi security station, has overturned north of Baghdad before reaching its target, the U.S. military said on Tuesday.

The incident took place in Mashahda area, some 40 km north of Baghdad, on Monday when a coalition patrol approached to assist the driver of an overturned dump truck and found the vehicle loaded with nitric acid containers and explosives, a military statement said.

"The driver was taken into custody and confessed that he was paid to attack the Joint Security Station in Mashahda, which also houses the town's Iraqi police station," the statement said.

Explosives experts was called in to dispose the truck contents and discovered that the truck was loaded with eight containers of nitric acid and explosive devices along with two large rounds of ordnance, it added.

Insurgents launched several chemical attacks, including toxic chlorine gas, as a new tactic to confront the ongoing U.S. and Iraqi security crackdown aimed at curbing insurgency and quell violence in the war-torn country.

Source: Xinhua