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Nine U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq
By Ibon Villelabeitia
Reuters
Tuesday, March 6, 2007; 8:44 AM
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Nine U.S. soldiers were killed in two bomb attacks north of Baghdad, the military said on Tuesday, in the deadliest day for U.S. forces since they launched a security crackdown in the capital three weeks ago.
Commanders had warned that militants may launch assaults outside Baghdad, where more than 90,000 Iraqi and U.S. troops have intensified operations to rein in sectarian violence.
In the worst of Monday's two attacks against U.S. forces, six soldiers were killed and three were wounded by a blast near their vehicles in Salahaddin province, a Sunni Arab insurgent stronghold north of Baghdad.
In a separate incident, three U.S. soldiers were killed and one wounded by another blast near their vehicles in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad.
The U.S. military did not specify if the two blasts were caused by a roadside bomb or a car bomb.
But U.S. commanders are concerned about the increased use by insurgents of a particularly deadly type of armor-piercing roadside bomb which, U.S. commanders say, is made in Iran. The bombs have killed more than 170 U.S. troops in Iraq since 2004.
More than 3,170 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.
Despite the crackdown, seen as the last chance to avoid an all-out civil war, violence continued in other parts of Baghdad, defying Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's plan to bring order to the lawless city of seven million.
In the latest of a string of sectarian attacks against pilgrims of the Shi'ite majority by suspected Sunni Arab insurgents, eight pilgrims were killed and 23 wounded in three separate car bombs in Baghdad, police said.
The pilgrims were heading on foot to the holy city of Kerbala, south of Baghdad, to mark a religious event. At least seven pilgrims were killed on Monday.
A bomb targeting an Iraqi army checkpoint killed four soldiers and wounded one civilian in eastern Baghdad's Ubaidi district, police said.
Mortar bombs slammed into the Sunni insurgent stronghold of Adhamiya in northeastern Baghdad, police said. State television Iraqiya said several people were wounded in the attack.
SADR CITY SEARCHES
U.S. and Iraqi troops conducted door-to-door searches and set up checkpoints for a third straight day on Tuesday in Sadr City, a stronghold of the Mehdi Army Shi'ite militia.
Soldiers met no resistance as they searched homes for illegal weapons and carried out patrols, witnesses said.
Although the raids had been expected in Sadr City after U.S. and Iraqi commanders met community leaders last week to seek their support, the operations could test Iraqi and U.S. determination to enforce the security crackdown.
The Mehdi Army is commanded by anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, a key Maliki supporter who has criticized the push, saying it will fail as long as U.S. forces are involved.
Washington has called the Mehdi Army the greatest threat to security in Iraq, but its leaders are lying low, unlike in 2004 when the militia twice rose up against American forces.
A day after a suicide bomber devastated Baghdad's historic booksellers' district, killing 30 people, residents pulled nine charred bodies from the smouldering rubble in Mutanabi Street, witnesses said.
"I saw nine bodies being pulled. They were completely burned. The firefighters could not reach them yesterday because the stores were full of books and papers and they were burning," said the witness, who works for Reuters.
(Additional reporting by Mussab Al-Khairalla and Aseel Kami)
© 2007 Reuters
By Ibon Villelabeitia
Reuters
Tuesday, March 6, 2007; 8:44 AM
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Nine U.S. soldiers were killed in two bomb attacks north of Baghdad, the military said on Tuesday, in the deadliest day for U.S. forces since they launched a security crackdown in the capital three weeks ago.
Commanders had warned that militants may launch assaults outside Baghdad, where more than 90,000 Iraqi and U.S. troops have intensified operations to rein in sectarian violence.
In the worst of Monday's two attacks against U.S. forces, six soldiers were killed and three were wounded by a blast near their vehicles in Salahaddin province, a Sunni Arab insurgent stronghold north of Baghdad.
In a separate incident, three U.S. soldiers were killed and one wounded by another blast near their vehicles in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad.
The U.S. military did not specify if the two blasts were caused by a roadside bomb or a car bomb.
But U.S. commanders are concerned about the increased use by insurgents of a particularly deadly type of armor-piercing roadside bomb which, U.S. commanders say, is made in Iran. The bombs have killed more than 170 U.S. troops in Iraq since 2004.
More than 3,170 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.
Despite the crackdown, seen as the last chance to avoid an all-out civil war, violence continued in other parts of Baghdad, defying Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's plan to bring order to the lawless city of seven million.
In the latest of a string of sectarian attacks against pilgrims of the Shi'ite majority by suspected Sunni Arab insurgents, eight pilgrims were killed and 23 wounded in three separate car bombs in Baghdad, police said.
The pilgrims were heading on foot to the holy city of Kerbala, south of Baghdad, to mark a religious event. At least seven pilgrims were killed on Monday.
A bomb targeting an Iraqi army checkpoint killed four soldiers and wounded one civilian in eastern Baghdad's Ubaidi district, police said.
Mortar bombs slammed into the Sunni insurgent stronghold of Adhamiya in northeastern Baghdad, police said. State television Iraqiya said several people were wounded in the attack.
SADR CITY SEARCHES
U.S. and Iraqi troops conducted door-to-door searches and set up checkpoints for a third straight day on Tuesday in Sadr City, a stronghold of the Mehdi Army Shi'ite militia.
Soldiers met no resistance as they searched homes for illegal weapons and carried out patrols, witnesses said.
Although the raids had been expected in Sadr City after U.S. and Iraqi commanders met community leaders last week to seek their support, the operations could test Iraqi and U.S. determination to enforce the security crackdown.
The Mehdi Army is commanded by anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, a key Maliki supporter who has criticized the push, saying it will fail as long as U.S. forces are involved.
Washington has called the Mehdi Army the greatest threat to security in Iraq, but its leaders are lying low, unlike in 2004 when the militia twice rose up against American forces.
A day after a suicide bomber devastated Baghdad's historic booksellers' district, killing 30 people, residents pulled nine charred bodies from the smouldering rubble in Mutanabi Street, witnesses said.
"I saw nine bodies being pulled. They were completely burned. The firefighters could not reach them yesterday because the stores were full of books and papers and they were burning," said the witness, who works for Reuters.
(Additional reporting by Mussab Al-Khairalla and Aseel Kami)
© 2007 Reuters