Three American troops died and one was injured by a roadside bomb in northern Iraq, the military announced Thursday. The explosion hit the patrol at about 7:45 p.m. Wednesday near Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad, the military said.
Another soldier was killed and four were wounded when their vehicle was burned by a roadside bomb that went off about 6 p.m. Wednesday near Tikrit, 80 miles north of Baghdad, the military said, according to the AP.
In Baghdad, three people, including a schoolgirl, died and four others wounded by a rocket that hit a primary school in the western Mansur neighborhood, a security source said, according to AFP.
North of Baghdad, a suicide car bomb exploded in front of a provincial government building on Thursday, killing three people and wounding 14, police said. The blast took place in the city of Baqouba. Shrtly later, a second suicide car bomb exploded in another part of Baquoba near a police checkpoint, but caused no injuries.
Meanwhile, the main oil pipeline in northern Iraq was attacked on Thursday, officials said. The pipeline links an oil field in the northern city of Kirkuk to Iraq's largest oil refinery in Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad.
The blast took place at about 5 a.m., setting fire to the pipeline and several oil valves about 35 miles west of Kirkuk. An official with the Northern Oil Co., which operates the pipeline and the refinery, confirmed the attack.
