Iraq i forces launched a major hunt for Al-Qaeda gunmen in the restive province of Diyala on Thursday after 35 people were killed in an ambush of a police convoy. Wednesday's attack, which saw the entire patrol wiped out, was one of the deadliest against police in recent months despite massive military crackdowns in the region, one of the most dangerous in Iraq. The US military also reported that an American soldier was killed in a suicide bombing in the province on Wednesday, but did not give further details. Soldiers backed by commandos are sweeping the area following the ambush, interior ministry spokesman Brigadier General Abdel Karim Khalaf said.