BAQUBA: Isurgents early Wednesday lured Iraqi troops into a booby-trapped house in Diyala province which then exploded killing eight soldiers, an army officer told AFP.

Three other bodies were found under the rubble, but it was not immediately clear if they were of insurgents or civilians, Captain Mohanned Ibrahim said.

The blast, which wounded four other soldiers, occurred at around 5:00 am (0200 GMT) in the town of Saadiyah, 100 kilometres (65 miles) northeast of Baghdad, he said.

"After clashes that lasted about 15 minutes (at a security checkpoint), the gunmen fled, and the army chased them in order to arrest them," Ibrahim said.

"The gunmen entered one of the houses close to the checkpoint, and the army followed them. The house then collapsed because of a bomb. The gunmen escaped through a back door."

BDST: 14:18 HRS, August 11, 2010