Iraqi soldier kills 2 US troops, wounds 6 in MosulBy ROBERT H. REID, Associated
Press Writer Robert H. Reid, Associated Press Writer
–
35 mins agoBAGHDAD – An Iraqi soldier Wednesday sprayed automatic weapons
fire at U.S. soldiers at an Iraqi military base
in Mosul, killing two and wounding six before he died in a hail of
bullets, an American general said. In Baghdad, bombers struck the
capital for a third straight day, killing 23 people and wounding scores
in a string of attacks in mostly Shiite areas.
Maj.
Gen. Mark Hertling, commander of U.S. forces in northern Iraq, told The
Associated Press the "premeditated" attack occurred in a courtyard as
the soldiers waited for their two lieutenants to finish a meeting with
an Iraqi army company commander.
Hertling,
who said he had spoken with some of the wounded troops, disputed Iraqi
accounts that the shooting followed a heated argument between the Iraqi
soldier and the Americans.
Hertling
said the attacker strolled into the courtyard carrying a Kalashnikov
rifle and a drum of ammunition, walked to a corner, turned and opened
fire.
"One shot was aimed and the rest
was literally a spray," he said. "There was no argument, no spitting,
no slapping, none of that occurred."
The six wounded American soldiers were expected to
recover, Hertling said.
In
Baghdad, Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mohammed al-Askari
said the shooting followed a quarrel at an Iraqi base in a volatile
Sunni Arab neighborhood in central Mosul. The Iraqi soldier was
identified as Barzan al-Hadidi.
It was the second such shooting in Mosul in a year,
raising questions about the professionalism and preparedness of Iraqi security
forces and their relations with their American partners.
Last
December, an Iraqi soldier allegedly shot and killed a U.S. captain and
a sergeant during a joint operation in Mosul.
Tensions
are running high in Mosul, where U.S. and Iraqi troops have been trying
since last spring to rout insurgents from Iraq's third largest city.
The military campaign has also raised friction between the Arab population and
Kurdish soldiers of the Iraqi army sent there to help restore order.
Also
in Mosul, two Christian sisters were killed and their mother was
wounded in an attack on their home Wednesday, police said. The
attackers rigged the house with boobytraps and one Iraqi policeman was
injured when he came to investigate the slayings, Hertling said.
As
violence raged in Mosul, a string of bombings rocked Baghdad for the
third consecutive day, killing 23 people and wounding about 90, police
said. The Iraqi army acknowledged the rise in attacks and said it was
taking measures to curb "the increasing number of terrorist attacks" in
the city.
Military spokesman Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi said
the measures would include stepped up intelligence gathering and pre-emptive
strikes on suspected extremists.
The
first car bomb blew up downtown
Baghdad during the Wednesday morning rush hour, killing four people and
injuring 15.
A second car bomb exploded near a school neighborhood
of Shaab in north Baghdad.
Iraqi police said five people were killed and 12 wounded. A roadside bomb
wounded seven people in another part of Shaab, police said.
Two bombs blew up within moments of each other in the
evening in district of New Baghdad, with the second explosion occurring just
after police arrived to investigate the first.
It
was not immediately clear how many were killed in each explosion, but
police and hospital officials gave an initial toll of 14 dead,
including three children and two women.
Hassan Rahim, a 42-year-old barber who lives in the neighborhood, heard the
blasts as he fixed his rooftop satellite dish.
"I do not know why Iraqi officials keep talking about the
improving security in Baghdad everyday. We are fed up with such lies
and we will hope that the security file in the capital will not be
handed over to Iraqi government," he said.
Wednesday's attacks follow two days of rush hour blasts in
Baghdad that have killed more than 30 people and wounded some 70
others.
The violence underscores the challenge facing the Iraqi security forces as
they take a leading role in providing security and the U.S. military pulls
back.
The recent uptick in bombings was a setback to security gains that led
to violence dropping sharply in recent months in the capital.
In the first nine days of November, there were at least 19
bombings in Baghdad, compared with 28 for all of October and 22 in
September, according to an Associated Press tally.
The rise in attacks also comes as U.S. and Iraqi officials try
to hammer out a final agreement on a security deal that would keep U.S.
troops in Iraq until the end of 2011.
Parliament must approve the deal
by the end of the year when the U.N. mandate authorizing the U.S.
presence expires.
But the proposed agreement has drawn sharp criticism,
especially within the majority Shiite community. Without an agreement
or a new mandate, the U.S. military would have to cease operations in
Iraq.
Iraq's two neighbors Syria and Iran have also spoken out
against the agreement. The U.S. accuses both countries of supporting or
harboring Iraqi extremists opposed to the U.S.-backed government of Prime
Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Moreover, an Internet monitoring service reported Tuesday that 10 Iraqi
insurgent groups have agreed to escalate attacks against U.S. and Iraqi
forces to derail the proposed deal, which they branded "the agreement
of disgrace."
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