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BAGHDAD, July 20: Two US soldiers were killed early on Sunday when they were ambushed by guerrillas firing guns and rocket-propelled grenades near the northern city of Mosul, a US military spokesman in Baghdad said.
The soldiers, from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, were killed in the town of Tall Afur, west of Mosul, he said. Another soldier was wounded and there were no reports of any casualties among those who attacked them.
The US forces occupying Iraq have suffered almost daily attacks since they ousted Saddam Hussein in April. The latest two deaths brought to 37 the total number of troops killed by hostile action since President George W. Bush declared an end to major combat operations on May 1.
In all, 151 American soldiers have died at enemy hands since they invaded on March 20, more than the 147 killed in the 1991 Gulf War. US officials have blamed hardliners loyal to Saddam, who is believed to be in hiding in Iraq and issuing taped messages urging supporters to attack the Americans.
ROAD ACCIDENT: One US soldier was killed and two others injured in Iraq when their military vehicle was involved in an accident in southwest of Baghdad, according to an army statement released on Sunday.
The soldiers’ vehicle turned over near Baghdad International Airport on Saturday, the statement said, adding that one soldier died at the scene, while the other two were evacuated to a field hospital.
Their condition was not known. Shias march in Najaf: More than 10,000 angry Shias marched on the local offices of Iraq’s US-led administration in Najaf on Sunday to protest against the alleged US harassment of a prominent Shia leader.
The protesters accused US soldiers in Najaf of surrounding the house of Moqtada al-Sadr on Saturday in response to a fiery anti-American speech he delivered on Friday.
Mr Moqtada, one of the Iraq’s most influential Shia leaders, had denounced the new US-backed governing council.
A line of US troops and coils of barbed wire kept protesters more than 1km away from the local headquarters of the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority.
At least two armoured personnel carriers guarded the building and US soldiers were stationed on nearby rooftops.
“This demonstration is a reflection of our displeasure with the American treatment of our leader,” Saad al-Maliki, an official in Sadr’s office, told Reuters.
“We want (US President George W.) Bush to apologise to Imam Moqtada.”
Emotions ran high as the crowd swelled, chanting support for Mr Moqtada and beating their chests in unison. Protestors held up a sign in English which read: “This is a warning to America. We will not allow you in the homes of our religious men.”
In his Friday sermon, Mr Moqtada blasted Iraq’s new US-backed Governing Council set up last weekend and called on the country’s majority Shia to chart their own political future.
The US says the Governing Council made up of 25 Iraqis is the first step on the road to Iraqi self-rule.—Reuters/AFP
