3 Us Soldiers Killed 5 Wounded 2

3 US Soldiers Killed, 5 Wounded
2 Iraqis Killed, 27 Wounded

wire services report that guerrillas killed at least three US soldiers in separate attacks on Monday.

In Mosul, a guerrilla detonated his car bomb in front of a US military convoy, killing at least one US soldier and two Iraqis, and injuring 27 persons with the explosion and in small arms attacks afterwards. (Other guerrillas fired at the convoy from the mosque after the explosion, then disappeared).

In southern Baghdad, guerrillas fired rockets, killing two American troops and wounding five other US soldiers.

Loud explosions shook Baghdad once the sun went down.

In Heet (Hit), a western Iraqi city near Ramadi on the smuggling route to Syria, a major clash broke out between US troops and dozens of local guerrillas. In the course of striking at the guerrillas, the US damaged either a mosque or the shrine of Ali al-Hiti, which caught fire (press reports weren’t clear what exactly was hit). Setting shrines and mosques on fire generally makes a bad impression among a Muslim public.

Az-Zaman reports an attack in Baqubah which, however, the US military has not confirmed at this writing.

There were also explosions in Fallujah. The city’s elders had gone to Baghdad to negotiate an end to violence with interim Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan.

Guerrillas beheaded a Turk and an Iraqi Kurdish translator on Monday.

Iraq News summarizes an AFP article:,

‘ The Iraqi government has made an agreement with the Radical Shite cleric Moqtada Sadr`s militia to slowly turn over weapons. This agreement came after a bloody six months which has devastated Sadr City which is home to 2.5 million people. The agreement is described as a loose verbal pact between both sides. There will be a a five-day test period for weapons surrender after which the Iraqi army will move in and patrol Sadr City, where the Shiite militia has ruled by the gun for months, while the government has offered to free some detained Sadr supporters. At one station in the district there has been a surrender of about a dozen machine guns, 12 mortar rounds, 38 mortar launchers and a sniper rifle. The U.S. and Iraqi government hope this will lead to the end of resistance in Sadr so they can concentrate on other areas such as Fallujah where violent resistance continues. The iraqi government has promised $500 million for the rebuilding of Sadr City, with $150 million coming from the United States.

– AFP