A roadside bomb exploded Saturday in the southern Baghdad neighborhood of
Dora, killing three Iraqi soldiers, the army said.
Iraqi men carry the
coffin of a victim of a suicide bomb attack Friday April 14, 2006 in
Baqouba, 60 km (35 miles) northeast of Baghdada, Iraq. Two roadside
bombings near two Sunni mosques located about 2 kms (1 mile) apart in the
city of Baqouba killed at least four civilians and wounded six, police
said. [AP] |
At least one civilian was killed in fierce fighting between insurgents and
the army in Fallujah, police Lt. Mohammed Khalaf said.
Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, was the country's main insurgent
stronghold until U.S. forces overran the city in November 2004 in the most
intense urban combat of the Iraq war.
In the southern city of Basra, four gunmen killed the director of traffic
police as he was driving to work, police said. Basra is 340 miles southeast of
Baghdad.
Meanwhile, two U.S. Marines were killed and 22 wounded — two of them
critically — in fighting in western Iraq, the U.S. military said Saturday. It
was the biggest number of American casualties reported from a single engagement
in weeks.
A U.S. statement said the casualties were suffered Thursday as a result of
"enemy action" in Anbar province but gave no specific location or details of the
fighting.
One Marine was killed "at the scene of the attack," the statement said.
Another Marine died at a medical facility in Taqqadum, it added.
Eight of the wounded were flown to the main U.S. hospital in Balad. Two were
listed in critical condition and six were reported as stable, the statement
said. The others were taken to a U.S. clinic at Camp Fallujah, where four were
hospitalized for observation.
"Our hearts go out to the families of the dead and wounded Marines," said
Marine spokesman Lt. Col. Bryan Salas. "Our wounded Marines are receiving the
best care available, and we look forward to their speedy recovery."
U.S. casualties have begun to rise this month following a sharp drop in
March, which saw the lowest number of American dead in Iraq since February 2004.
Last month, 31 U.S. service members died in Iraq, but fatalities in April have
already passed 40.