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Suicide bomber strikes US soldiers in Iraq
[April 20, 2009] BAGHDAD (AP) -- A suicide bomber wearing an Iraqi military uniform struck a U.S. military delegation visiting the mayor of violence-wracked Baqouba on Monday, injuring at least eight American soldiers and nine others.
It was not immediately clear whether the attacker was a member of the Iraqi military or in disguise, but U.S. forces have faced both types of assaults.
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Bombers have used police and military uniforms to clear checkpoints in the past. In February, two police officers opened fire on U.S. soldiers in the northern city of Mosul, killing one soldier and raising worries about insurgent infiltration in security forces. The Baqouba attack occurred as a group of Iraqi officials, led by Mayor Abdullah al-Hiyali, waited at the main gate of the municipal building to greet the U.S. soldiers, said Raad al-Dahalaki, the deputy mayor. "When the U.S. soldiers left their vehicles and started to walk toward the building, a man wearing a military uniform mingled with the crowd of U.S. soldiers and Iraqi policemen and set off the explosion," said al-Dahalaki. The U.S. military said at least eight soldiers were wounded in the blast. Iraqi security officials said at least nine civilians were also hurt. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media. Baqouba, 35 miles (60 kilometers) northeast of Baghdad, is the capital of the Diyala province -- which remains one of the centers for the Sunni insurgency despite an overall drop in violence around the country. U.S. and Iraqi security forces have stepped up offensives in Baqouba and the northern city of Mosul in attempts to break the last insurgent strongholds. |
