Car bomb kills 2 U.S. soldiers in Iraq; other bombs kill 20

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Bombings across Iraq on Thursday claimed the lives of at least 22 people, including U.S. soldiers, tribal leaders, and an Iraqi government official, according to Iraqi officials.

The deadliest strike was in the city of Falluja, west of Baghdad, when two suicide bombers simultaneously rammed oil tankers into two Iraqi police posts, damaging a nearby school and killing at least 15 people, an Interior Ministry official said.

The twin strikes destroyed six houses and a police station, and left at least 147 other people wounded, he said. Part of the school collapsed from the blast, leaving many trapped in the rubble.

Both civilians and police were among the casualties from the strike, which happened shortly after noon. The official initially said schoolchildren were among the casualties, but it was not clear if they were among those killed or wounded.

A curfew was temporarily imposed in parts of Falluja following the coordinated attack, the official said. Iraqi officials have not released many details about the attack, and local journalists say they have been prevented from videotaping the aftermath.

Coalition forces, who handed over control of Anbar province to the Iraqis in September, responded shortly after the bombings, according to the U.S. military.

Falluja had been a stronghold for insurgents in the early days of the Iraqi war, but U.S. and Iraqi military operations have chased many al Qaeda in Iraq cells out of the province.

A car bomb explosion killed two U.S. soldiers and wounded nine civilians in the northern city of Mosul on Thursday afternoon, the U.S. military said. The deaths bring to 4,207 the number of U.S. troops who have died in Iraq since the 2003 invasion.

U.S. military casualties are lower than at the same time last year. There were 17 U.S. military deaths in November and 14 in October, and many of them were from non-combat incidents. Last year, there were 38 deaths in October and 37 in November.

Three tribal leaders from the Iraqi province of Diyala were among those killed in a bombing in Baquba, the provincial capital, an interior ministry official said. The bomb, attached to a bicycle, killed a total of four people and wounded 16 others, the official said.

The inspector general for Iraq's Ministry of Social Affairs died after a bomb attached to his vehicle detonated in central Baghdad, the official said. Two civilians were wounded in the attack.

The U.S. military refers to explosive devices attached to vehicles without the driver's knowledge as "sticky bombs." Their use has increased in recent months in Baghdad, particularly in the targeted killings of government employees and members of the security forces.

All About Mosul • Falluja • Al Qaeda in Iraq