Four Americans, six Iraqis killed in Baghdad blast
Four Americans, six Iraqis killed in Baghdad blast
Tuesday June 24, 2008
BAGHDAD (AFP) — Two US soldiers, two American civilians and six Iraqis were killed in a bomb attack Tuesday on municipal offices in Baghdad's eastern Shiite bastion of Sadr City, US and Iraqi officials said.
The attack which the US military blamed on Shiite extremists occurred mid-morning shortly before district council elections were to take place, an Iraqi security official said.
One US soldier, three members of the district council and seven other Iraqis were wounded, the US military and Iraqi security officials said...
...US embassy official W. Johann Schmonsees said that one of the civilians killed was a State Department employee and the other worked for the Defence Department. They were both attached to the American mission in Baghdad.
The US military said two of its soldiers were killed in the blast and charged that the attack was carried out by Special Groups extremists...
...The blast occurred at about 9:30 am (0630 GMT) in the southern section of Sadr City, a stronghold of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.
It took place when when US officials and soldiers had arrived "to supervise the process of elections as the council was to elect some new members today," a member of the district council said...
...The latest attack on US nationals comes a day after two American soldiers were killed and three wounded as they were fired on as they were leaving the council office of Madain town located south of Baghdad.
The recent decrease in violence in Baghdad and other regions of Iraq has led to an increased presence of US soldiers on the streets, most of them involved in restoring community services...
...The latest deaths of US soldiers bring the overall losses of the military in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion to 4,106, according to an AFP tally based on independent website.
