By SLOBODAN LEKIC, Associated Press Writer BAGHDAD, Iraq - Two American soldiers were killed when their Abrams battle tank was damaged by resistance fighters, U.S. officials said Wednesday, as the number of U.S. soldiers killed in combat since major fighting ended topped the wartime total.
In a separate attack, seven Ukrainian troops were wounded in the first ambush
of a multinational unit in the Polish sector south of Baghdad, coalition
officials said.
The latest deaths bring to 115 the number of American soldiers killed in
combat in Iraq (news
- web
sites) since President Bush (news
- web
sites) declared an end to major fighting May 1. Defense Department figures �
updated on its Web site Tuesday � show 114 U.S. soldiers died in the active
combat phase, which began March 20.
The Abrams tank was disabled when it was struck by a land mine or a roadside
bomb Tuesday night during a patrol near Balad, 45 miles north of Baghdad, said
Maj. Josslyn Aberle, a spokeswoman for the 4th Infantry Division. A third
crewman was evacuated to a U.S. hospital in Germany, she said.
It was believed to be the first M1 Abrams main battle tank destroyed since
the end of major combat May 1. During the active combat phase, several of the
68-ton vehicles � the mainstay of the U.S. Army's armored forces � were disabled
in combat.
The latest attacks, including a nighttime mortar barrage in Baghdad, followed
a day of violence in which insurgents targeted American forces and Iraqis who
work with the occupation authorities. U.S. officials also announced that
Baghdad's Deputy Mayor Faris Abdul Razzaq al-Assam was killed Sunday in a
drive-by shooting.
The proliferation of attacks on Iraqis allied with the occupation bodes ill
for attempts by the U.S.-led authorities to persuade more Iraqis to join in
administering the country and play a greater role in providing security.
Resistance forces have targeted several prominent figures, including Aquila
al-Hashimi, a member of the Governing Council, who was fatally shot Sept. 20.
A spokesman for the multinational division at Camp Babylon said the attack on
the Ukrainians occurred when two of their armored personnel carriers rolled over
land mines near Suwayrah about 40 miles southeast of Baghdad.
After the vehicles were disabled, unidentified gunmen opened fire on the
disembarked soldiers, the spokesman said on condition of anonymity.
About 1,650 Ukrainians are serving in the Polish-led stabilization force
patrolling central and southern Iraq.
In Baghdad, half a dozen mortar rounds exploded late Tuesday in an upscale
Jadriya neighborhood across the Tigris River from the U.S.-led coalition
headquarters but caused no damage or casualties, the U.S. military said
Wednesday.
One landed in a field close to a palace once occupied by one of Saddam
Hussein (news
- web
sites)'s daughters, now a headquarters for the U.S. civil-military affairs
command. Another struck Baghdad University's College of Physical Education,
damaging the wall of an enclosed volleyball court. There were no casualties in
the shelling.
In Tikrit, Saddam's hometown, insurgents fired late Tuesday on the south gate
at the main U.S. military base there. At least one American soldier from the 4th
Infantry Division was wounded, witnesses said. A patrol was sent out to search
for the assailants, who fled after firing on the troops from a nearby rooftop.
And a U.S. military convoy was attacked Tuesday night by small arms fire in
the northern city of Mosul, the military said. There were no casualties.
Rockets were fired Tuesday night at a U.S. military compound in the oil
center of Kirkuk, according to Saleh Sabah, a member of the Iraqi National
Accord which has offices near the compound.
Sabah said the U.S. troops returned fire with mortars and blocked all roads
leading to their garrison.
In Fallujah, a flashpoint Sunni Muslim city 40 miles west of Baghdad, a car
exploded Tuesday afternoon on a major street, killing at least four people. The
explosion occurred about 330 feet from a police station and 100 feet from a
school, but the target was unclear.
____
Eds: Associated Press correspondents Katarina Kratovac in Tikrit and Mariam
Fam in Mosul contributed to this report. The
Mulindwas Communication Group
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