The Italian soldiers were driving just outside the city of Kirkuk when an explosive device was detonated on the road they were travelling on.
Five of the soldiers were injured and three were in a “grave condition”.
They were evacuated by US helicopters to a military hospital in Baghdad, where one had to have a leg amputated and another was treated for serious internal injuries, a military official told state broadcaster RAI.
“Our men were training Iraqi security forces engaged in fighting ISIS,” Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said.
“I am following the situation with sorrow and apprehension,” he wrote on Twitter.
The incident occurred three days before the 16th anniversary of a suicide attack in the southern Iraqi city of Nassiriya, which killed 18 Italian servicemen, an Italian civilian and nine Iraqi civilians.
Italy currently has around 800 regular soldiers and 80 special forces in Iraq.
