A suicide bomber killed at least 20 Iraqis and wounded more than 25 Wednesday in an attack in near Iraqi northern town Baquba, some 60km north-east of Baghdad, a security official reported.

The suicide bomber detonated an explosives belt in a cafe in the town of Midily, north of Baquba. The blast also caused considerable damage to the cafe and to buildings nearby.

In an unrelated event, US-Iraqi security forces arrested an al-Qaeda leader in Baquba, reports said Wewdnesday.

Also in Baquba, joint Iraqi-US forces have arrested Ahmed Mazhar al-Azzawi, the leader of Islamic State in Iraq, an affiliate of the al-Qaeda terrorist network in Iraq, Iraqi state newspaper al-Sabahr reported Wednesday.

Meanwhile Iraqi police found Wednesday the body of a man wearing a US military uniform in the river Euphrates. The man had been shot dead, a police spokesman said in Hilla, south of Baghdad. US military did not immediately confirm whether the victim was an American soldier.

Also, seven US soldiers were killed and three were wounded Tuesday in Iraq, according to a Wednesday US military report.

An explosive device hit a US patrol, killing one soldier and wounding another south-west of Baghdad.

In another incident, US soldiers were killed and two others wounded when there patrol was attacked, the statement added. Also, an interpreter was wounded in the attack.

Also, a soldier was killed when his patrol was attacked in western Baghdad. Also Tuesday, a soldier was killed when his patrol was attacked by small arms fire in western Baghdad. In Anbar province, west of Baghdad, two US marines were killed in combat operations. No further details were immediately available.