US troops attacked again in central Iraq
US troops were attacked again today in central Iraq, but there were no reports of casualties.
A patrol near an air base west of Baghdad came under fire from rocket-propelled grenades and small arms. The Americans returned fire.
The firefight in Khaldiya town, 45 miles west of the capital, is the latest in a series of hit-and-run attacks on US forces in the area. Several dozen US troops have been killed or injured.
Yesterday, gunmen shot dead an American soldier and wounded five others in nearby Fallujah, where there has been strong resistance to the US occupation.
Meanwhile, US military sources said two soldiers guarding a bank in central Baghdad were wounded yesterday when two men fired pistols at them.
The sentries returned fire and killed one of the attackers while the other managed to flee, Central Command said.
It said that in a separate incident in the capital, a soldier injured four civilians when he accidentally fired his machine gun as he was picking it up. The victims, who were struck in the legs, were evacuated. Their injuries were not life-threatening.
