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Iraq Suicide Bomb Kills Nine U.S. Soldiers, Wounds 20 (Update2)
By Ed Johnson
April 24 (Bloomberg) -- Nine U.S. soldiers were killed and 20 others injured in one of the deadliest attacks on coalition forces in Iraq this year when a suicide car bomb exploded at a base northeast of Baghdad.
The attack took place yesterday in Diyala province, a region that has seen increased fighting between U.S.-led coalition troops and insurgents in recent months.
An Iraqi civilian was also wounded in the attack on Task Force Lightning soldiers, according to an e-mailed statement from Multi National Corps - Iraq. Seven Iraqi policemen were killed and 12 others were wounded in a separate bombing yesterday on a checkpoint near Diyala's provincial council headquarters, the military said.
The U.S.-led coalition and Iraqi government forces are trying to contain an insurgency in Iraq and also stem sectarian violence between the Shiite and Sunni Muslim communities. More than 60 U.S. service members have been killed in action this month as they intensify efforts to quell violence in Baghdad and the western province of al-Anbar.
The security crackdown there has prompted insurgents to move north into Diyala, which has become the third-deadliest region in Iraq for U.S. forces, up from eighth in 2006, the Washington Post reported this week.
At least 46 U.S. soldiers have died fighting there since November 2006, the Post said, citing U.S. officers. Eleven U.S. soldiers died in Diyala between October 2005 and October 2006, the newspaper said, citing a Washington Post database.
Blackhawk Crash
Twelve U.S. soldiers were killed when a Blackhawk helicopter crashed northeast of Baghdad on Jan. 20. Cable News Network, citing an unidentified military official, reported at the time that the helicopter was likely brought down by a shoulder-fired missile.
Bombings across Iraq killed at least 33 people and wounded about 49 others yesterday. The worst attack took place near the northern city of Mosul, where a car bomb left 10 people dead and 20 injured near the office of the Kurdish Democratic Party, state television reported.
The U.S. military said yesterday it may reconsider the use of concrete barriers around volatile Baghdad neighborhoods as part of the security crackdown.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has criticized the building of a wall around a Sunni enclave in mainly Shiite eastern Baghdad. Sunni politicians complained the barriers could worsen the city's sectarian divide.
The U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan C. Crocker, said the U.S. will ``respect the will'' of the Iraqi government on the issue. The wall is not intended ``to segregate communities nor to engage in a form of political or social engineering,'' he said yesterday in his first speech in the post.
Some 2,693 U.S. service members had been killed in action in Iraq as of yesterday, according to the Department of Defense Web site. The total number of deaths was 3,313.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ed Johnson in Sydney at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net .
Last Updated: April 23, 2007 23:14 EDT
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a2_AFxJjSmSI&refer=home
By Ed Johnson
April 24 (Bloomberg) -- Nine U.S. soldiers were killed and 20 others injured in one of the deadliest attacks on coalition forces in Iraq this year when a suicide car bomb exploded at a base northeast of Baghdad.
The attack took place yesterday in Diyala province, a region that has seen increased fighting between U.S.-led coalition troops and insurgents in recent months.
An Iraqi civilian was also wounded in the attack on Task Force Lightning soldiers, according to an e-mailed statement from Multi National Corps - Iraq. Seven Iraqi policemen were killed and 12 others were wounded in a separate bombing yesterday on a checkpoint near Diyala's provincial council headquarters, the military said.
The U.S.-led coalition and Iraqi government forces are trying to contain an insurgency in Iraq and also stem sectarian violence between the Shiite and Sunni Muslim communities. More than 60 U.S. service members have been killed in action this month as they intensify efforts to quell violence in Baghdad and the western province of al-Anbar.
The security crackdown there has prompted insurgents to move north into Diyala, which has become the third-deadliest region in Iraq for U.S. forces, up from eighth in 2006, the Washington Post reported this week.
At least 46 U.S. soldiers have died fighting there since November 2006, the Post said, citing U.S. officers. Eleven U.S. soldiers died in Diyala between October 2005 and October 2006, the newspaper said, citing a Washington Post database.
Blackhawk Crash
Twelve U.S. soldiers were killed when a Blackhawk helicopter crashed northeast of Baghdad on Jan. 20. Cable News Network, citing an unidentified military official, reported at the time that the helicopter was likely brought down by a shoulder-fired missile.
Bombings across Iraq killed at least 33 people and wounded about 49 others yesterday. The worst attack took place near the northern city of Mosul, where a car bomb left 10 people dead and 20 injured near the office of the Kurdish Democratic Party, state television reported.
The U.S. military said yesterday it may reconsider the use of concrete barriers around volatile Baghdad neighborhoods as part of the security crackdown.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has criticized the building of a wall around a Sunni enclave in mainly Shiite eastern Baghdad. Sunni politicians complained the barriers could worsen the city's sectarian divide.
The U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan C. Crocker, said the U.S. will ``respect the will'' of the Iraqi government on the issue. The wall is not intended ``to segregate communities nor to engage in a form of political or social engineering,'' he said yesterday in his first speech in the post.
Some 2,693 U.S. service members had been killed in action in Iraq as of yesterday, according to the Department of Defense Web site. The total number of deaths was 3,313.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ed Johnson in Sydney at ejohnson28@bloomberg.net .
Last Updated: April 23, 2007 23:14 EDT
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a2_AFxJjSmSI&refer=home
