Baghdad ? A blast Friday near a mosque west of Baghdad, Iraq, killed four people, including three children, and wounded at least 19 other people, officials said.

Iraqis blamed U.S. forces, but an American spokesman disputed the Iraqi claim.

The blast occurred on the outskirts of the town of Nasaf, near Ramadi, an insurgent center 70 miles west of Baghdad, according to police Lt. Mohammed al-Obeidi and Dr. Mohammed al-Ani of Ramadi General Hospital.

A hospital official, Ali Taleb, said a U.S. armored vehicle fired near the Ibn al-Jawzi mosque, about 15 miles east of Ramadi, after worshippers left the building after Friday prayers.

U.S. Marine Capt. Jeffrey Pool, a military spokesman, disputed the account. Pool said two roadside bombs exploded near a U.S. convoy in the Ramadi area. Five gunmen and one civilian driver were killed in the subsequent exchange of fire, Pool said.