A roadside bomb killed three American troops and wounded eight others north of Baghdad on Friday. The attackh occurred around midday in Tarmiyah, about 30 kms north of the capital
A U.S. Marine died as American forces continued their raids in western Iraq, the U.S. military said on Friday. The Marine was killed on Thursday during security and stability operations, it said, according to Reuters.
The forces stepped up operations on Thursday, using warplanes and an AC-130 gunship to attack the town of Haqlaniya, northwest of Baghdad. In addition, American troops stormed into a mosque nabbed 17 men and seized several weapons caches during Thursday's fighting, the U.S. military said.
On Thursday the U.S. command announced two American soldiers were killed and two wounded in separate bomb attacks, one northeast of Baghdad in Qaryat, and a second near Samarra, west of Qaryat. The military added a third soldier was killed in action west of Baghdad, in Anbar province.
On the political front, United Iraqi Alliance candidate Ibrahim al-Jaafari said Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has endorsed his nomination for prime minister.
