6 US soldiers die in Iraq

BAGHDAD – A roadside bomb killed four US soldiers patrolling western Baghdad as part of a month-old security crackdown, the military said yesterday.

The four soldiers died Saturday, and small arms fire followed the blast, wounding another soldier, the military said in a statement. So far this month, the soldiers’ battalion had found eight weapons caches and two roadside bombs, as well as helping to rescue a kidnap victim, the military said.A Task Force Lightning soldier also died and five others were wounded Saturday as a result of injuries sustained in an explosion in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad, according to a statement.Another soldier died the same day in a non-combat related incident, the military said.The circumstances were under investigation, it said.The victims’ names were withheld pending family notification.Saturday’s deaths brought to at least 3 216 members of the US military who have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.A Web video surfaced yesterday showing an alleged insurgent crawling under a US military vehicle in Iraq and purportedly planting explosives in full daylight.Seconds later, the video cuts to an explosion ripping the vehicle apart.The footage was stamped with the emblem of the Islamic State of Iraq, an al Qaeda-linked militant group that disavows Iraq’s elected government and seeks to establish Muslim law.The video was posted on an Islamic Web site that frequently airs insurgent messages, but its contents and authenticity could not be independently verified.The footage shows a man in beige pants and a dark sweatshirt, crawling through mud puddles underneath a Bradley fighting vehicle and hauling an object that is less than a metre long.Then the video switches to a wider view of the vehicle exploding in a ball of flames and smoke.The incident appeared to occur in the driveway of a building, and it was impossible to discern more details about the surroundings or circumstances of the attack.It also was unclear why the US vehicle appeared to be unguarded at the time.A caption says the incident happened in western Anbar province, an insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad.In other violence yesterday, two policemen and two civilians were killed in separate incidents in Baghdad, police said.A roadside bomb hit an Iraqi police convoy in eastern Baghdad, killing two policemen and wounding five others, authorities said.Two vehicles were damaged.Later, police said a mortar round landed near a house in central Baghdad, killing a civilian and wounding another.In Shorja market, Baghdad’s most popular central shopping district, a man tossed a grenade into a group of workers, police said.One worker was killed and another was wounded.The suspect escaped through a nearby alley, they said.The Shorja market has been bombed several times, including a large truck bomb last month.Nampa-APSo far this month, the soldiers’ battalion had found eight weapons caches and two roadside bombs, as well as helping to rescue a kidnap victim, the military said.A Task Force Lightning soldier also died and five others were wounded Saturday as a result of injuries sustained in an explosion in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad, according to a statement.Another soldier died the same day in a non-combat related incident, the military said.The circumstances were under investigation, it said.The victims’ names were withheld pending family notification.Saturday’s deaths brought to at least 3 216 members of the US military who have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.A Web video surfaced yesterday showing an alleged insurgent crawling under a US military vehicle in Iraq and purportedly planting explosives in full daylight.Seconds later, the video cuts to an explosion ripping the vehicle apart.The footage was stamped with the emblem of the Islamic State of Iraq, an al Qaeda-linked militant group that disavows Iraq’s elected government and seeks to establish Muslim law.The video was posted on an Islamic Web site that frequently airs insurgent messages, but its contents and authenticity could not be independently verified.The footage shows a man in beige pants and a dark sweatshirt, crawling through mud puddles underneath a Bradley fighting vehicle and hauling an object that is less than a metre long.Then the video switches to a wider view of the vehicle exploding in a ball of flames and smoke.The incident appeared to occur in the driveway of a building, and it was impossible to discern more details about the surroundings or circumstances of the attack.It also was unclear why the US vehicle appeared to be unguarded at the time.A caption says the incident happened in western Anbar province, an insurgent stronghold west of Baghdad.In other violence yesterday, two policemen and two civilians were killed in separate incidents in Baghdad, police said.A roadside bomb hit an Iraqi police convoy in eastern Baghdad, killing two policemen and wounding five others, authorities said.Two vehicles were damaged.Later, police said a mortar round landed near a house in central Baghdad, killing a civilian and wounding another.In Shorja market, Baghdad’s most popular central shopping district, a man tossed a grenade into a group of workers, police said.One worker was killed and another was wounded.The suspect escaped through a nearby alley, they said.The Shorja market has been bombed several times, including a large truck bomb last month.Nampa-AP