Two American soldiers were killed in separate attacks on their convoys in the Iraqi capital, the military said Monday.
The first soldier died in a firefight late Sunday after two armed assailants opened fire, said Sgt. Patrick Compton, a spokesman for the military. The soldiers responded with fire, killing one of the attackers and wounding the other. The wounded suspect was taken into custody.
In the second convoy attack, Iraqi fighters threw a homemade bomb at a U.S. vehicle early Monday morning, killing a soldier. Both of the dead American solders were from the Army's 1st Armored Division, the Germany-based division which is charged with occupying Baghdad. They were in different convoys.
Elsewhere, four US troops were wounded in a new attack on occupying forces in Iraq. They were injured in an ambush with rocket-propelled grenades in Ramadi, a town about 100 kilometers west of Baghdad, a U.S. military spokesman said.
Despite increasing attacks against the American forces, no extra troops are needed there now, the Iraq war's retiring commander said Monday.
Gen. Tommy Franks said rising casualties among coalition occupation forces come in pursuit of "a worthy cause" — attempting to establish democracy in Iraq.
"The sense that I have right now is that it's not time to send in additional troops, the four-star general told ABC's "Good Morning America" in an interview marking his retirement. "We want ... to continue to move forward with establishing security by working with the Iraqis."
Meanwhile, 11 Turkish soldiers arrested by US forces in northern Iraq were released in Baghdad, the Turkish news agency Anatolia reported.
The soldiers were to spend the night in a guest house in the Iraqi capital and will be taken by helicopter on Monday to the northern Iraqi town of Sulaymaniyah, where they were reportedly seized by US troops on Friday, the NTV television news channel said, quoting Turkish diplomatic sources.
It said a joint commission, made up mostly of military officers, would be formed to investigate the incident.
The reported release came after Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by telephone Sunday with US Vice President Dick Cheney in an attempt to end the crisis.
Erdogan said in a statement afterwards the 11 soldiers would be handed over to Turkish forces in Sulaymaniyah. (Albawaba.com)
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