Iraq attack kills three US troops
Three US soldiers guarding an Iraqi children's hospital have been killed and four injured in a grenade attack, the US military has said.
The attack occurred shortly before midday in Baqubah, northeast of Baghdad.
All the soldiers were from the 4th Infantry Division, which was involved in an operation on Thursday against Iraqis suspected of being Saddam Hussein's bodyguards.
The casualties - whose names have not yet been released - were taken to an American medical facility. Three soldiers have been treated and returned to their units.
The deaths bring to 47 the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq since President George W Bush declared the war was over.
Earlier, the US military said five American soldiers had been killed in attacks since the killing of Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay Hussein on Tuesday.
But US Central Command says it is not drawing a link between the deaths and the recent high-profile operations.
On Saturday, US army engineers began to demolish the villa where the brothers were killed, after it was scoured for clues on the whereabouts of the deposed dictator.
The fortified villa in northern Mosul was partly destroyed in Tuesday's attack by US forces using machineguns, grenades and anti-tank missiles.
Hijackers
Thirteen people were arrested during a raid near Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit on Thursday, and up to 10 are thought to have served as his personal bodyguards.
The arrests, which apparently came after a tip-off, are being described by the Americans as a real boost in their hunt for the fugitive Iraqi leader.
In a separate incident on Saturday, Baghdad's newly appointed police chief, Brigadier Ahmed Kadhim was injured in a clash with suspected hijackers and kidnappers in the Iraqi capital.
Brigadier Kadhim was shot in the leg, and five of his officers were wounded, one critically, as they pursued a group of suspects in the north of the city.
The police chief is now recovering in hospital and all the suspects have been apprehended, but the BBC's Mike Donkin in Baghdad says the incident highlights growing concern among Iraqis about violent crime since Saddam Hussein was ousted.
Kidnappings and car hijackings have been on the increase in Baghdad since the war ended and a number of street gangs have been formed.
Saddam wife 'quizzed'
US officials have said they hope the deaths of Uday and Qusay Hussein will weaken anti-American resistance and lead coalition forces to Saddam himself.
"We continue to tighten the noose," said Major General Ray Odierno, commander of the US Army's 4th Infantry Division.
He said there had been an increase in the flow of information coming to them since the deaths of the brothers - two of the most feared members of the old regime.
The US military had also questioned one of Saddam's two wives, Associated Press quoted the general as saying.
Meanwhile, our correspondent in Baghdad says Saturday's newspapers have given Iraqi readers a first look at the bloodied faces of Uday and Qusay Hussein, and seem to have no doubts the pictures are genuine.
The leading daily, Al Moatamar, says "God has at last punished the two brothers in the way that they deserved".
But another article quotes the new Iraqi governing council as being critical of the killings.
It would have been better if the brothers had been brought to court to confess their crimes, it says.
Story from BBC NEWS:
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Published: 2003/07/26 15:09:45 GM |
