BAGHDAD, May 24: US troops around Baghdad were jumpy on Saturday after an aborted grenade attack on a checkpoint the previous day.

A coalition ground forces spokesman declined to confirm that a red alert had been called, saying it was not policy to reveal details on military readiness.

“There was an incident in which an individual brought a grenade to a checkpoint. It appears that individual had been instructed to throw the grenade at the checkpoint.

“But when he decided not to, the soldiers handled it very well and got the grenade off him,” the spokesman said.

The incident came as the United States prepared to mark Memorial Day on Sunday remembering its dead, both civilian and military.

The invaders have lost a total of 189 people since March 20, when the invasion began.

The spokesman listed them as 76 US Marines, 73 US army personnel, 29 British soldiers, one US sailor, one US airman, four journalists, one International Committee of the Red Cross staffer, three contractors and one US defence department civilian.

But he said no commemorations were being planned inside Iraq, because the ongoing operations made it impossible to allow all soldiers to take part.

He could not exclude small-scale memorials being held by individual units. —AFP