U.S. troops clash with Iraqis, kill at least 46.(Chicago Tribune)

Byline: Mike Dorning

BAGHDAD, Iraq _ U.S. troops firing machine guns and tank rounds killed at least 46 Iraqis and wounded 18 more in clashes Sunday afternoon as two coalition convoys carrying loads of cash came under simultaneous attack in Samarra, northern Iraqi, military officials said.

The convoys of tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers and Humvees were attacked with a punishing barrage of mortars, bombs, rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles. The convoys were heading to make deliveries of newly printed Iraqi dinars at currency exchanges in Samarra as part of the coalition's phaseout of old bills bearing a portrait of former leader Saddam Hussein, a military official said.

No Americans were killed, although five U.S. soldiers and one civilian working with the coalition were wounded. None of the injuries was life-threatening, military spokesmen said.

Samarra is 60 miles north of Baghdad inside the so-called Sunni Triangle, the epicenter of the anti-American rebellion.

The Iraqi deaths are the most reported in a single battle since President Bush …