US soldiers hurt in mine attack
Six US soldiers were injured today when their truck hit a mine west of Baghdad, and two others were hurt in separate ambushes in the capital.
A convoy of two Humvee military vehicles struck the mine in Ramadi, said Sgt Patrick Compton, a spokesman for the American forces.
A grenade was fired at another US convoy in the heart of Baghdad today. Witnesses said a bystander was killed when the troops returned fire.
Saddam Juwad, 22, said he saw one injured US soldier being carried away from the wreckage. The grenade was fired, as in at least one recent attack, by an assailant who popped up through a civilian car’s sunroof.
As the attackers sped away, the soldiers began firing wildly, Juwad and other witnesses said, killing the driver of another car.
As a Humvee sat burning in the street an hour after the attack, the witnesses pointed to a pool of blood where the victim had fallen.
“We heard an explosion. I threw myself to the ground and my brother was shot,” said Fuad Hassan Alwan, a bystander at the scene on Haifa street.
“The Americans shot at us,” he said. “My brother has two bullet wounds and he is now in the hospital.”
Elsewhere, another US soldier was wounded in a gun battle in the western Baghdad district of Kadamiyah. A six-year-old boy was also injured, Sgt Compton said.
Insurgents have stepped up their attacks in recent days, hurling grenades, ambushing convoys and shooting troops patrolling the streets.
Twenty-six US soldiers have been killed by hostile fire since President Bush declared an end to major combat on May 1.
