Blast collapses bridge in Iraq, killing 3 U.S. soldiers

Story Highlights

• NEW: Bomber targets bridge in Baquba, the second bridge attack since Sunday
• Deaths in Sunday bridge collapse raise U.S. toll for June to 31
• Britain's prime minister-designate visits Baghdad, meets with PM al-Maliki
• Parliament speaker removed after remarks deemed insensitive to Shiites

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Three U.S. soldiers were killed and six wounded when a suicide bomb blast caused a highway overpass to collapse on them Sunday near Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad, the U.S. military said Monday.

On Monday another suicide truck bombing targeted a bridge in Diyala province, according to a Baquba police official. In the Monday bombing, the al-Tahrir bridge partially collapsed.

The bridge, which is usually guarded by troops from the Republic of Georgia, spans the Diyala River and is one of three main bridges linking Baquba to villages in the northeast. (Watch how insurgents are targeting bridges more frequently )

It was unclear if anyone died in the Diyala attack aside from the suicide bomber.

In recent months, insurgents have increasingly targeted checkpoints as well as bridges and other infrastructure.

In the Sunday bridge attack, soldiers were operating a checkpoint under the al-Ashreen bridge in Iskandariya, a town about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Baghdad when the explosion occurred at 7:30 p.m. Sunday (11:30 a.m. ET), a Hilla police official said.

It took U.S. military engineers, using bulldozers and other heavy equipment, several hours to clear the highway, which was partially blocked by debris from the overpass. (Blast aftermath)

Lt. Col Garry Bush, an Army munitions officer, told The Associated Press that the suicide bomber stopped on a northbound section of the expressway and detonated his explosives next to a support pillar, collapsing two sections of the bridge.

U.S. troops and members of a private security firm rushed to help those trapped under the bridge, and U.S. armored vehicles had to provide cover fire during the 45-minute rescue attempt, AP reported.

"When that size blast went off, everyone was in shock," Jackie Smith, 53, a former lieutenant colonel now working as a civilian Army munitions expert, told AP.

The rescuers struggled to lift concrete slabs off the men pinned under the bridge, at one point employing a Bradley armored vehicle to free a victim, AP reported.

Shouts of "Morphine! Morphine!" could be heard as the man was freed, according to AP.

Traffic was delayed for more than an hour. A police officer in Iskandariya said a curfew had been imposed on vehicles and pedestrians after the attack, AP reported. (Map of Iskandariya)

31 U.S. troops killed in June

Another U.S. soldier died Sunday during combat operations in southern Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

The soldier's unit was working with the Iraqi security forces to conduct clearing operations and remove insurgent and militia forces from the area, the military said.

With the deaths, 31 U.S. troops have died in Iraq this month, and 3,503 U.S. military personnel have died since the war began in 2003. Seven military contractors of the Pentagon also have died in the conflict.

Separately, Iraq police found 16 unidentified, bullet-riddled corpses throughout Baghdad on Sunday and 17 on Monday, an official with Iraqi Interior Ministry said.

So far in June, a total of 263 bodies have been found around the Iraqi capital, the result of killings mostly blamed on sectarian violence.

A Baghdad security plan that increased the number of coalition troops on the streets appeared to find success for a couple of months, as many militias kept a low profile during March and April. (Watch Iraqi colonel say what it will take to control the situation )

But the number of murders is almost back to pre-security plan levels from the start of the year. More than 750 bodies were found in May, many of them with hands bound and showing signs of torture.

Britain's prime minister-designate visits

Gordon Brown, set to become Britain's leader later this month, on Monday landed in Baghdad to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, according to a British Embassy spokesman.

Brown, who is now finance minister, takes over as prime minister on June 27 when Tony Blair steps down.

Britain has been drawing down its troop levels in Iraq, handing over to the Iraqis responsibility for security in three of the four provinces once under British control.

Speaker removed

Iraqi parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani -- known for his blunt personality and lack of diplomacy -- was removed from his leadership post in a closed-door session Monday because of remarks he made last month, a Shiite lawmaker said.

Lawmakers negotiated and approved a measure to temporarily replace the Sunni party member with Deputy Speaker Sheikh Khaled Atia, a Shiite, lawmaker Hassan al-Shummari said.

Last month, a female lawmaker, Shatha al-Musawi, delivered a graphic and emotional presentation about the plights of Shiite families forced to leave their homes in Diyala province.

Al-Musawi's demands elicited laughter and a retort from al-Mashhadani: "Leave it to the women."

Al-Mashhadani tried to stem the anger of al-Musawi and other Shiites by saying his laughter was a disguise for the pain the situation caused him, but the parliamentary session descended into chaos.

Other developments

• A roadside bomb struck an Iraqi national police patrol in central Samarra on Monday afternoon, killing two police officers and wounding three others, police said.

• In southern Baquba, gunmen clashed with Iraqi police Monday morning, leaving one of the gunmen dead and a police officer and civilian wounded, police said. In the afternoon, gunmen opened fire on a police patrol in Baquba, killing one officer and wounding two others, police said.

• Gunmen stormed the home of a police officer in Muqdadiya and kidnapped his son and two brothers late Sunday, police said. Gunmen fired on a crowd of people standing outside the police major's house, wounding five people, including a woman and a child, police said. Muqdadiya is about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Baquba.

• North of Baghdad, gunmen kidnapped Major Ali Abdul Ghani, the head of a citizenship office in the town of Dour, as he headed to work Monday morning, Samarra police said.

• Two people were wounded when a mortar round landed Monday near a house in Khalis, about 13 miles (20 kilometers) north of Baquba, police said.

• A roadside bomb struck a minibus Monday in Khan Bani Saad, nine miles (15 kilometers) south of Baquba, wounding two people, police said.

CNN's Mohammed Tawfeeq, Cal Perry, Saad Abedine and Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report.