BAGHDAD -- The U.S. military today announced the deaths of four American troops in combat and said a fifth had died of noncombat-related causes, but a curfew in most cities appeared to be keeping sectarian violence under control.
In Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, hundreds of additional members of Iraqi security forces were deployed to provide extra security around the remains of the Golden Mosque, a revered Shiite Muslim shrine that was bombed Wednesday. The attack was the second on the mosque since February 2006 and raised fears of renewed religious violence, prompting officials to impose the curfew.
A military statement said 650 Iraqi troops had arrived in Samarra since the attack, which the government has blamed on elements loyal to Al Qaeda. Nobody was injured in the blast, and there have been no claims of responsibility.
Witnesses and a British military official in the southern city of Basra said a Sunni mosque was attacked in the nearby town of Zubayr in apparent retribution from the Samarra attack. Local residents said the mosque was hit with explosives and severely damaged.
The Iraqi security forces did not immediately release any information on the incident. Maj. David Gell, a spokesman for British forces stationed in southern Iraq, said there were no reports of casualties and that overall, the situation in the south was calm.
The latest U.S. combat deaths occurred Thursday north of Baghdad. Three soldiers died outside Kirkuk when an explosion occurred near their vehicle. Another was killed in Diyala province when a patrol came under small-arms fire.
The noncombat death occurred Wednesday, according to a brief military statement that gave no further details.
At least 3,519 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since the war began in March 2003, according to the website icasualties.org.
Despite the curfew, insurgents were able to wreak some havoc. A roadside bomb in Baghdad's volatile Sunni district of Adhamiya exploded as a joint U.S. and Iraqi military patrol passed and injured seven civilians on the street. The military said an elderly man suffered a heart attack after the explosion but survived after U.S. troops treated him at the scene and then used one of their vehicles to rush him to a hospital.
There were no troop casualties.
In Kirkuk, police Capt. Abbas Mohammed said a roadside bomb had targeted an Iraqi police convoy overnight. No officers were injured, but a young boy was killed, Mohammed said.
Source : www.latimes.com
In Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, hundreds of additional members of Iraqi security forces were deployed to provide extra security around the remains of the Golden Mosque, a revered Shiite Muslim shrine that was bombed Wednesday. The attack was the second on the mosque since February 2006 and raised fears of renewed religious violence, prompting officials to impose the curfew.
A military statement said 650 Iraqi troops had arrived in Samarra since the attack, which the government has blamed on elements loyal to Al Qaeda. Nobody was injured in the blast, and there have been no claims of responsibility.
Witnesses and a British military official in the southern city of Basra said a Sunni mosque was attacked in the nearby town of Zubayr in apparent retribution from the Samarra attack. Local residents said the mosque was hit with explosives and severely damaged.
The Iraqi security forces did not immediately release any information on the incident. Maj. David Gell, a spokesman for British forces stationed in southern Iraq, said there were no reports of casualties and that overall, the situation in the south was calm.
The latest U.S. combat deaths occurred Thursday north of Baghdad. Three soldiers died outside Kirkuk when an explosion occurred near their vehicle. Another was killed in Diyala province when a patrol came under small-arms fire.
The noncombat death occurred Wednesday, according to a brief military statement that gave no further details.
At least 3,519 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since the war began in March 2003, according to the website icasualties.org.
Despite the curfew, insurgents were able to wreak some havoc. A roadside bomb in Baghdad's volatile Sunni district of Adhamiya exploded as a joint U.S. and Iraqi military patrol passed and injured seven civilians on the street. The military said an elderly man suffered a heart attack after the explosion but survived after U.S. troops treated him at the scene and then used one of their vehicles to rush him to a hospital.
There were no troop casualties.
In Kirkuk, police Capt. Abbas Mohammed said a roadside bomb had targeted an Iraqi police convoy overnight. No officers were injured, but a young boy was killed, Mohammed said.
Source : www.latimes.com
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