- BAGHDAD - (AFP) Four US
soldiers were killed and five wounded yesterday when a blast struck their
convoy on the edge of the Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City, the US
military said.
-
- "Four soldiers were killed and five wounded in an
explosion on their convoy in Baghdad at around 1:10pm local time,"
a spokesman told the wire service, adding that the nature of the device
was under investigation.
-
- Witnesses earlier told an AFP correspondent on the scene
that the convoy was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade before a roadside
bomb was detonated.
-
- A 21-year-old Iraqi was seriously wounded by the blast,
his father said. Witnesses said a cameraman was also injured when US troops
opened fire to keep bystanders away.
-
- The attack followed overnight clashes in Sadr City between
US troops and militiamen loyal to radical cleric Moqatada Sadr.
-
- Residents reported a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) exploding
around 9am local time.
-
- An AFP correspondent heard gunshots in the al-Karama
neighbourhood and saw militiamen armed with Kalashnikovs and RPGs on the
streets.
-
- Residents of Sadr City, which has a population of some
two million people, said the fighting had started at around 8pm Thursday.
-
- The US military reported an attack on an Iraqi police
station in the neighbourhood early yesterday, but had no further information
on clashes.
-
- "At midnight, an Iraqi police station was attacked,"
said US army Captain Brian O'Malley.
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