The U.S. military in Iraq said two private security contractors died in a car bombing in the northern city of Mosul. According to the AP, the military said eight Iraqis were hurt in the explosion, which occurred Sunday when an assailant drove into the middle of a convoy and detonated explosives.
The statement, which was released Monday, did not specify the nationalities of the contractors. They worked as bodyguards for the Kurdish Democratic Party of Massoud Barzani, leader of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region.
In another incident, an explosives-filled tractor exploded in Diyala province on Monday, killing at least seven members of a local anti-Qaeda group, a police officer and a medic told AFP. The tractor was parked by the side of road in the village of Wais, 100 kilometres east of Baquba, the capital of Diyala, the officer said. It went off when a patrol of a group that fights Al-Qaeda militants was passing, he said.
Meanwhile, the White House said Monday it would likely not reach a deal with the Iraqi government over its presence there before the end of the month. "I don't think that we'll be able to finalize this agreement by next Thursday," said spokeswoman Dana Perino, referring to the July 31 date that the administration had hoped to meet.
"We are working towards it but it might take a few more days after that," she said. Perino stated earlier that the planned US-Iraq long-term strategic agreement will not include a specific date for a withdrawal of US combat troops.
"What it will not do is have any sort date tied to combat troops, like how many American troops would be in Iraq at X date. That would not be included," she told reporters.
