BAGHDAD, Iraq - A car bomb in a town west of Baghdad killed three American soldiers and injured six in addition to several Iraqi civilians, the military said.
The attack took place near a U.S. military checkpoint in Khaldiyah city, 70 miles west of Baghdad, witnesses said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A U.S. military spokesman would not give details of the bombing except to say: "Three Task Force All American soldiers were killed and six were wounded when a vehicle based improvised explosive device detonated at 4:15 p.m this afternoon."
May God bless the members of the coalition and comfort and strengthen their families and love ones.
This has been a bad day. Two US soldiers were killed earlier in Fallujah, and in a separate attack there, seven were wounded and several Iraqi police were killed or injured. These were all car bombs, from what I have heard.
Prayers for them all and for their families.
Five U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq Attacks BAGHDAD, Iraq - A car bomb exploded on Saturday in Khaldiyah, a town west of Baghdad, killing three American soldiers and injuring six soldiers and several Iraqi civilians, the military said.
AP Photo Two other American soldiers were killed earlier Saturday in a roadside bombing near Fallujah. The latest deaths raised to 512 the number of American service members who have died since the United States and its allies launched the Iraq war March 20. Most of the deaths have occurred since President Bush declared an end to major combat May 1.
Khaldiyah and Fallujah are part of the Sunni Triangle, the area in central Iraq where most of the anti-U.S. attacks by die-hard Saddam Hussein loyalists have taken place. The U.S. military says the attacks have reduced in number since Saddam's arrest on Dec. 13.
In the Khaldiyah attack, a four-wheel-drive vehicle drove up to the checkpoint at a bridge and blew up in front of a Humvee that tried to block it, said a witness, who spoke on condition of anonymity. He said there were about 20 soldiers in the vicinity at the time.
A U.S. military spokesman said the attack took place in Khaldiyah, 70 miles west of Baghdad, killing three Americans and wounding six other soldiers.
The spokesman, who did not wish to be identified, said several Iraqi civilians were also wounded in the attack, and one of them was evacuated to a military base for treatment.
He said two of the wounded soldiers were taken to a combat support hospital and four were being treated at a local military base.
Eight injured Iraqis were admitted to a hospital in the nearby town of Ramadi, including six women and two men, said Dr. Ahmed Nasrat Jabouri. He said one of them was in a serious condition.
Earlier Saturday, two American soldiers and four Iraqis were killed in separate bomb attacks, a day after two U.N. security experts arrived in the capital to study the possible return of the world body's international staff.
The American soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb that struck their convoy near Fallujah, a city 50 miles west of Baghdad in an area that has been a center of anti-American resistance.
In another attack, a truck bomb exploded soon after a U.S. patrol passed by in Samarra, which also is in the restive so-called Sunni Triangle, an area north and west of Baghdad that is home to die-hard Saddam Hussein loyalists who have been blamed for most of the insurgent attacks on civilians and U.S. forces.
The blast killed four Iraqis and 33 people were injured in the Samarra blast, military spokesman Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt told reporters. Three American soldiers were slightly wounded, he said.
The American military police patrol was turning into a police station to join Iraqi police when the explosion occurred behind it, Sgt. Maj. Nathan Wilson of the 720th Military Police Battalion.
Despite Saddam's capture on Dec. 13, insurgents loyal to him have continued to attack police stations and U.S. troops.
Also Saturday, at least one sniper in a building shot and wounded an American soldier who was in a foot patrol in a Baghdad neighborhood, Maj. Kevin West said.
A bridge across the Tigris River in Baghdad, leading to the coalition headquarters, was closed by U.S. troops for two hours Saturday. Witnesses said they were searching for a bomb, but this could not be independently confirmed.
Baghdad has been a frequent target of insurgents. In one of the deadliest attacks, the U.N. headquarters in the capital was bombed in August, killing 22 people including top U.N. envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan withdrew all foreign U.N. staff in October.
A U.N. military adviser and a security coordinator arrived Friday in Baghdad, the first foreign staff to return since then.
They planned to meet with officials from the U.S.-led coalition and inspect buildings the world body might use, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
"Their primary focus will be to open lines of communication ... and also to look after the interests of our national staff in Iraq," Dujarric said.
Annan also is considering sending a separate security team that would be needed if he decides to send experts to Iraq to determine whether direct elections for a transitional government were feasible.
That team would help resolve a dispute between the coalition and Iraq's leading Shiite Muslim cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, who is demanding direct elections as opposed to a U.S. plan that calls for letting regional caucuses choose a legislature. The legislature would then name a new Iraqi government that will take over from the coalition July 1, under the U.S. plan adopted Nov. 15.
Al-Hakim, who was among members of a Governing Council delegation that met with President Bush on Tuesday at the White House, heads the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the country's most powerful Shiite political group.
He said if the U.N. experts conclude an early vote is not feasible, then sovereignty could be handed over to the U.S.-installed Iraqi Governing Council. But he added it was "a last-resort option."
Al-Hakim's views carry considerable weight in Iraq, where the Shiite majority has risen to dominate the political scene after decades of suppression by the Sunni Arab minority.
The United States maintains it is impossible to hold elections in such a short time given the lack of a census and electoral rolls and the continuing violence.
___ Associated Press Writer Vijay Joshi contributed to this report from Baghdad.
An U.S. soldier steps between a bomb crater and a charred truck after a truck bomb exploded in Samarra, Iraq as a U.S. patrol passed by Saturday Jan. 24, 2004. Three Iraqi civilians were killed and 33 people were injured in the blast, a U.S. military spokesman said. Three American soldiers were slightly wounded. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
An Iraqi soldier surveys damage to a vehicle after a truck bomb exploded in Samarra, Iraq as a U.S. patrol passed by Saturday Jan. 24, 2004. Three Iraqi civilians were killed and 33 people were injured in the blast, a U.S. military spokesman said. Three American soldiers were slightly wounded. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
A US soldier and Iraqi policemen inspect the site of a car bomb attack in Samarra. Two US soldiers and at least three Iraqis were killed in two separate bombings in the restive Sunni area of the country as a two-man UN security mission got underway in Iraq.(AFP/File/Karim Sahib)
US forces have captured a top deputy to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian who is believed to be a key link between al-Qaeda and Ansar al Islam, a militant group operating in Iraq, a US official said.(AFP/File )
"It seems that the insurgents always attack around Saturday to get maximum coverage in our media."
Others have made that same observation. I think it indicates that most of the major terrorist acts are coordinated by someone who understands the value of propaganda such as Al Qaeda.
Very sad news today. I thank God for these and pray for blessing for their loved ones and protection for our service men and women.
