A bomb exploded Thursday near a pipeline in northern Iraq, killing two Iraqi Civil Defense Corps members and injuring 10 others, U.S. officials said.
The explosion took place south of Qayarrah, about 230 kilometers north of Baghdad, U.S. officials said, according to The AP. The Iraqi guards were helping secure pipelines that have been the target of sabotage frequently.
In Mosul, also in the north, US troops opened fire at four Iraqis who attacked one of their compounds with rocket-propelled grenades on Thursday. Two of the Iraqis were killed and a third wounded, the military said. The fourth escaped.
Earlier it was reported that a U.S. military convoy was ambushed Thursday in a village near Baqubah, northeast of the capital Baghdad, according to witnesses.
A Humvee was set ablaze by a bomb at around 9:30 am (local time), leaving a huge crater in the ground, at al-Saada, some 60 kilometers from the capital, AFP cited a witness as saying.
U.S. soldiers searched the area for the perpetrators after the attack, Satab added. There were no immediate indications about any casualties.
Meanwhile, a woman and five children were injured, one seriously, in the explosion of a grenade they were playing with in an abandoned Iraqi army camp near Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, according to relatives Thursday.
"My wife, one of my children and four of his friends were injured Wednesday night in the explosion of a grenade in the Saad camp," AFP cited Rahman Mezher Elwan as saying.
"Children were playing with the grenade when it exploded," said Elwan.
He said he lived in a disused area of the camp, alongside dozens more displaced Arab families from Kurdistan. U.S. forces use another part of the camp, he added.
Elwan said he thought many more grenades and other explosive devices were left behind by Saddam Hussein's army at the camp. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
