The Iraqi army says at least 175 people have been killed and another 200 wounded in a series of suicide truck bombings targeting the minority Yazidi religious sect in northwestern Iraq.

Iraqi policemen inspect the wreckage of a car used in a car bomb attack on a road in south Kirkuk, 14 Aug 2007

The four bombings took place Tuesday near Kahtaniya, about 120 kilometers west of the city of Mosul.

Yazidis are members of an ancient, primarily Kurdish, religious sect.

In Washington, the White House condemned the bombings as "barbaric attacks on innocent civilians."

There has been no claim of responsibility.

Earlier, a suicide truck bomber killed at least 10 people north of Baghdad on a bridge linking the Iraqi capital with Mosul.

In other news, the U.S. military announced the deaths of 10 U.S. servicemen in Iraq, including five killed when their helicopter crashed Tuesday. A statement said the CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter went down while conducting a routine test flight near an airbase west of Baghdad.

Iraqi officials said gunmen in Iraqi security uniforms kidnapped Deputy Oil Minister Abdel Jabar al-Wagaa, along with several other people, from an oil ministry compound in Baghdad.

The U.S. military said coalition forces killed four Mahdi Army militiamen and detained eight people in an operation in Baghdad's Sadr City. It said the suspects were believed to be involved in attacks on coalition troops and moderate Iraqis.

The military also said 16 suspected terrorists were detained in operations targeting foreign terrorists and bombing networks in the Tigris River Valley.

Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.