The remains of five US troops killed Friday in a suicide bombing in Iraq arrived at Dover Air Force Base, in Delaware, late Sunday, in the fourth transfer of bodies since media coverage was allowed a week ago.

The flag-draped coffins were carried by troops from a military transport plane as family members watched the ceremony in silence. A small child sobbed as the somber procedure unfolded.

The so-called transfer of military remains has been off limits to media coverage for 18 years until the Pentagon ended the ban last week for fallen US troops whose families agree to waive their right to a private ceremony.

The five dead soldiers were identified as Private Second Class Bryce Gautier, Corporal Jason Pautsch, Sergeant Edward Forrest, Staff Sergeant Gary Woods and Staff Sergeant Bryan Hall.

They were killed in a suicide bombing when a suicide truck bomber struck a police compound in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.

Two Iraqi police and an Iraqi soldier also perished the blast.

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