- BAGHDAD (Reuters) -- Five
U.S. soldiers and two Iraqi guards were killed in a mortar attack on the
Iraqi National Guard headquarters in Samarra, north of Baghdad, Thursday,
the U.S. Army said. U.S. forces responded with mortar fire and an army
attack helicopter fired Hellfire missiles at a house, killing four insurgents,
a U.S. military spokesman said.
-
- The spokesman said 18 U.S. soldiers and four Iraqi guards
were also wounded in the attack, in which mortar fire severely damaged
the National Guard building, also used by U.S. troops.
-
- "Iraqis fired four mortar rounds at the Iraqi National
Guard headquarters, striking and collapsing a building used by the Iraqi
National Guard and the 1st Infantry Division."
-
- The 1st Infantry Division spokesman said U.S. forces
had located the source of the mortar fire and responded with four 120-mm
mortar rounds.
-
- Two Apache helicopters were sent to hunt down the attackers.
One of the helicopters landed after being struck by small arms fire to
check how much damage it had sustained. It then continued with its mission.
-
- The deaths in Samarra, a mainly Sunni Muslim town 100
km (60 miles) north of Baghdad, brought to 651 the U.S. combat toll in
Iraq since the start of last year's war.
-
- Earlier, a military spokesman had put the death toll
from the attack at three U.S. soldiers and one national guard.
-
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