A suicide car bomb struck a US military Humvee in eastern Baghdad on Wednesday, killing a US soldier and 24 people, mostly children, US military and police said.

Three US soldiers were also wounded in the attack along with 18 other children, when a suicide bomber drove an explosive-laden vehicle into a US Humvee in the capital's eastern district of Baghdad al-Jadida, police and US military said.

Many children were gathering around some American soldiers who were handing out sweats to children before the blast, police said.

Confirming the attack, the US military said in a statement that the attack took place at 10:50 AM (06:50 GMT) killing a soldier and wounding three others. It also set a nearby house ablaze, which prompted the Iraqi police and firefighters to respond immediately to evacuate the wounded to nearby hospitals.

"The Task Force Baghdad unit on the site reported that the vehicle, laden with explosives, drove up to a humvee before detonating.

Many Iraqi civilians, mostly children, were around the humvee at the time of the blast," the statement said. It said "the name of the deceased Soldier is being withheld pending notification of next of kin."

(Xinhua News Agency July 14, 2005)