Baghdad  - A 13-year-old Iraqi girl has managed to escape the terrorist kidnappers who planned to use her as a suicide attacker, the US Army reported Wednesday.

The girl sought the protection of Iraqi troops at a roadblock near the city of Mosul, 400 kilometres to the north of the capital Baghdad.

The girl said her abductors were "bad men" who had hidden her in the boot of a car.

They intended to blow her up as a "martyr" at an Iraqi Army checkpoint, she said. (dpa)