Two Americans killed in attacks in Baghdad
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-09-22 16:12

Two US Marines were killed in separate attacks west of Baghdad, the U.S. military said Tuesday — a day that also saw a car bomb wound four soldiers in a military convoy near Baghdad's airport.

One of the Marines was killed in action Monday, while the other died of injuries suffered in an earlier attack, the military said in a statement. No further details were provided.

An Iraqi fireman sprays foam at burned out cars following a car bomb explosion in Baghdad, September 22, 2004. A car bomb exploded in western Baghdad on Wednesday, killing at least two people and wounding 40, police said. [Reuters]

The two belonged to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, which is based outside the rebel-held city of Fallujah.

The car bomb exploded on Baghdad's airport road as a U.S. military convoy was passing by, destroying an armored Humvee, the U.S. military said.

Around 10 civilian vehicles were also wrecked in the blast, a police official said. He said there were civilian casualties but did not immediately have an exact figure.

Maj. Phil Smith of the 1st Cavalry Division said four Task Force Baghdad soldiers were wounded. One of them was evacuated to a military hospital while the three others were treated on the spot.

Two Iraqi militiamen prepare to open fire on U.S. forces in Sadr City in Baghdad, September 22, 2004. U.S. tanks raided the Baghdad Shi'ite Muslim stronghold of Sadr City in the early hours of Wednesday as aircraft bombed the area and helicopters flew low overhead, witnesses said. A U.S. military spokesman in the Iraqi capital confirmed that an operation was under way but would give no details. [Reuters]

Smith said initial reports had indicated a Bradley fighting vehicle was also damaged in the blast, but that they proved to be incorrect.

The treacherous stretch of road is the site of frequent attacks against U.S. troops and their supply convoys.

In a travel warning issued last week, the U.S. State Department described the airport road as among the country's most dangerous.

Meanwhile, Internet site of an Islamic militant group said Tuesday that it had killed the second of three Western hostages it abducted in Baghdad last week, and that it would kill another if its demands were not met.

New Iraqi forces lack training

On Monday, the Pentagon acknowledged broad shortfalls in the U.S. training and equipping of Iraqi security forces but said a majority of Iraq will be under the control of these forces by the end of December.

Army Lt. Gen. Walter Sharp, director of strategic plans and policy for the U.S. military’s Joint Staff, released figures showing that only about 53,000 of 101,000 Iraqis already on duty in police, border control and other domestic security forces assembled by the Pentagon have undergone training.

Compared to the total deemed necessary for these forces by the Pentagon and the interim government of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, only 41 percent of weapons were on hand, as well as 25 percent of vehicles, 18 percent of communications equipment and 28 percent of body armor, according to the figures.

At a hastily called briefing for reporters, Sharp did not directly answer when asked how many Iraqi security personnel were fully trained and fully equipped.

“Define what you mean by fully trained. And I don’t mean to be smug about this,” Sharp told reporters.

“We are now on the path of getting manned, trained and equipped Iraqi security forces into the field as quickly as possible,” Sharp added.

Sharp also said Allawi and U.S. military leaders have increased the number of U.S.-trained police personnel to be created from 90,000 to 135,000 and the number of border control personnel from 16,000 to 32,000, as well as increasing the total for the Iraqi national guard.

Violence persists across Iraq

In a new threat to the Iraqi administration, the second killing of a Sunni Muslim cleric in Baghdad threatened the uneasy peace between Sunnis and Shiites in the capital.

The cleric, Sheik Mohammed Jadoa al-Janabi, was killed in Baghdad’s predominantly Shiite al-Baya neighborhood, the association said.

There have been tit-for-tat killings of Shiite and Sunni clerics in the past year, widely believed to be motivated by sectarian sentiments. However, the embattled police never thoroughly investigate such murders.

In Baghdad, where Shiites and Sunnis are roughly equal in number, attacks have taken place against places of worship belonging to both communities.

Despite unrelenting violence, Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi has said that his interim government is determined “to stick to the timetable of the elections,” which are due by Jan. 31.

Allawi, a secular Shiite Muslim, has been insistent about holding elections on time because of pressure from Iraq’s majority Shiite community and its most powerful cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who fears the interim arrangement will be prolonged.

Close

Today's Top News     Top World News
FM spokesman: UN is not a "board of directors"         World press praises China's power transfer         Wen: China supports Russia to fight terrors         Yukos called to honour oil commitments         Website: 2nd US hostage killed in Iraq         US Fed raises rates for third time	Haiti death toll passes 700 after storm       FM spokesman: UN is not a "board of directors"       US Fed raises rates for third time       Website: 2nd US hostage killed in Iraq       One of two Iraqi female prisoners may be freed       Airlines told to turn over passenger data