Four Iraqis were killed and six others injured in a riot at the Camp Bucca confinement in Iraq's southern Um Qaser area on Monday, the US military said Tuesday.

"A riot at the Camp Bucca Theater Internment Facility shortly after noon, Jan. 31, left four detainees dead and six injured," the military said in a statement.

"The violence erupted after a routine search for contraband in one of the camp's 10 compounds," said the statement, adding that "the facility's commander immediately deployed all available guards to the camp in an attempt to control the situation.

"The riot quickly spread to three additional compounds as detainees threw rocks and fashioning weapons from materials inside their living areas, according to the statement.

"The four compounds involved in the riot house more than 2,900 of Camp Bucca's 5,300 detainees," it said.

The escalating turbulence which lasted about 45 minutes came under control when the US soldiers used lethal force to quell the violence, added the statement.

"Three injured detainees were evacuated from the facility for treatment at a military hospital while the remaining three were treated at the facility's medical clinic," it said.

The cause of the riot and the use of lethal force are currently under investigation by the US military.

The US military says it holds an estimated 7,000 detainees near the port of Umm Qasr and 2,300 at the now infamous Abu Ghraib prison, west of Baghdad. Enditem