- BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Guerrillas
detonated a powerful bomb in a busy Baghdad shopping district on Sunday,
killing a U.S. soldier and two Iraqi children, and another U.S. soldier
died in an attack on a convoy west of the capital.
-
- The ambushes came a day after coordinated suicide bomb,
mortar and machinegun attacks in the holy city of Kerbala killed 19 people
-- five Bulgarian and two Thai soldiers and 12 Iraqis -- the deadliest
strike on foreign troops since the capture of Saddam Hussein.
-
- The Baghdad attack, which targeted U.S. vehicles driving
through the Karada shopping area, wounded five American soldiers, eight
members of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps and an Iraqi translator.
-
- "A soldier from the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment
and two Iraqi children standing nearby were killed when the IED (improvised
explosive device) detonated as a convoy was passing," military spokesman
Captain Jason Beck said.
-
- "At this stage we don't know how serious the injuries
are."
-
- Beck said the explosion occurred at around 10:15 a.m.
(2:15 a.m. EST) when the streets of Karada, a bustling area of shops and
stalls, would have been crammed with people.
-
- Northeast of the flashpoint town of Falluja, another
bomb attack on a convoy killed one soldier from the 82nd Airborne Division
and wounded three, the U.S. Army said.
-
- MOUNTING DEATH TOLL
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- The attacks raised to 212 the number of U.S. soldiers
killed in action since Washington declared major combat over on May 1.
Attacks appear to be continuing at a consistent pace despite the capture
of former dictator Saddam Hussein on December 13.
-
- Bulgaria's Defense Ministry said a fifth Bulgarian soldier
died from his wounds on Sunday after a suicide car bomb attack on Saturday
that destroyed the Bulgarian military headquarters in Kerbala and wounded
27 soldiers.
-
- But Sofia said it remained committed to its pledge to
help Washington fight global terrorism. "We once again declare our
firm will to fight all attempts to destroy the values of humanity and civilization
all over the world," Deputy Defense Minister Ilko Dimitrov told a
press conference.
- © Reuters 2003. All Rights Reserved.
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