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5 U.S. soldiers, 4 Iraqis killed in attacks
Quagmire, no. Another Chechnya, yes.Five U.S. soldiers and four Iraqi civilians were killed Saturday in three separate bomb attacks in Iraqâs so-called Sunni Triangle. Insurgents have been active all this week. In the Sunni Triangle, three attacks in a 24-hour period Wednesday and Thursday killed nine people, including two U.S. soldiers. The violence comes as U.S. officials announced the arrests in Iraq of two men linked to al Qaeda: Hasan Ghul, a senior operative with the terrorist network, and Husam al Yemeni, a top lieutenant to a man operating with Ansar al-Islam. In recent days, U.S. commanders in Iraq expressed fears of al Qaeda attempting to link up with the anti-U.S. insurgency. In Khaldiyah, a car bomb killed three Task Force All American soldiers and wounded six others. Several Iraqi civilians also were wounded in the attack. Two of the wounded soldiers were taken to a combat support hospital and four were being treated at a local military base. West of Fallujah, a roadside bomb exploded as a vehicle carrying two U.S. soldiers passed by Saturday. The soldiers were assigned to the U.S. Armyâs 82nd Airborne Division. The latest deaths bring the number of U.S. soldiers killed in the war to 511. Also Saturday, a bomb hidden along a road near a government building in the northern Iraqi city of Samarra exploded as a U.S. military convoy passed by. The blast killed at least four Iraqi civilians and seriously wounded another. Thirty-three civilians were treated for minor wounds at a local hospital. Three U.S. soldiers also were wounded. The bomb was probably detonated remotely and was hidden near a Toyota pickup truck parked near the building. Posted by: Rafael 2004-01-24 |
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