2 GIs Killed In Iraq Attack
Insurgents launched an attack on a U.S. combat post in Iraq Monday, sending in a suicide bomber and clashing with American troops, the military and residents said. Two U.S. soldiers were killed and 17 wounded, the military said.
The target was an Iraqi police station that U.S. soldiers use as a base in the town of Tarmiyah, a violent Sunni Arab stronghold about 25 miles north of Baghdad, reports CBS news chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan.
The attack came on a day when a string of car bombings and other attacks claimed at least 34 Iraqi lives in Baghdad and elsewhere, including a late afternoon mortar attack in the capital which killed 11, according to police.
The assault on the American forces began with a suicide bomber exploding a vehicle outside the base north of Baghdad, said the military statement. It gave no further details beyond the number of dead and wounded. Residents said U.S. forces fought with insurgents after the suicide bomber tried to break through barriers around the base.
For hours, helicopters were seen landing at the base and leaving.
The situation in Tarmiyah Monday night is tense with residents saying it's obvious the U.S. means business, reports Logan. Residents told CBS News that American-armored vehicles are blocking the roads and the town itself has been sealed off as U.S. forces search for those involved in the attack.
The military also said Monday that two personnel were killed while conducting combat operations in western Iraq during the weekend.
A Marine was killed Saturday and an Army soldier died Sunday while fighting in the Anbar province, the statements said without giving further details. Their names were not immediately made public.
Anbar is a main battlefield against Sunni insurgents
The mortar attack in Baghdad hit just before sunset in the Dora area, which is surrounded by predominantly Sunni neighborhoods. Police and hospital officials put the death toll at 11, but it was unclear whether that number was likely to rise.
Earlier, five people were killed when a suicide bomber detonated a bomb-rigged belt on a public bus headed for the mostly Shiite area of Karradah, in central Baghdad, police reported.
A roadside bomb killed three policemen in the Shiite area of Zafraniyah in southeastern Baghdad, wounding two other people, including a civilian, police said. Only 100 yards away, a bomb hidden in an open-air market exploded, killing at least five.
In Mahmoudiya, 20 miles south of the capital, a car bomb went off among auto repair shops, killing two and wounding two, police said. Mahmoudiya is mostly Shiite with Sunnis living in villages around the community and has long been a flashpoint for sectarian violence.
In other developments:
Police said at least 63 people died in the attack in the mostly Shiite area of New Baghdad. Scores were injured as extremists sent a bloody calling card to officials boasting that militant factions were on the run.
Nearly 130 people were injured. Another person was killed in a car bombing Sunday in the Shiite militia stronghold of Sadr City.
Just a few hours before the weekend blasts, Lt. Gen. Abboud Qanbar led reporters on a tour of the neighborhood near the marketplace and promised to "chase the terrorists out of Baghdad." On Saturday, the Iraqi spokesman for the plan, Brig. Gen. Qassim Moussawi, said violence had plummeted 80 percent in the capital.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki condemned the bombing as a desperate act by "terrorists" and "criminals" who sense they are being squeezed.
"These crimes confirm the defeat of these perpetrators and their failure in confronting our armed forces, which are determined to cleanse the dens of terrorism," al-Maliki said in a statement.
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the bombings underscore the "increasing desperation felt by criminals" and would only serve to "galvanize Iraqi forces and their coalition partners."
Sunday was by far the deadliest day since the security sweeps began last week. On Thursday, a string of car bombs killed seven civilians on the first full day of the house-to-house searches for weapons and suspected militants.
The U.S.-led teams have faced limited direct defiance as they set up checkpoints and comb neighborhoods. But that could change as they move into more volatile sections. The next could be Sadr City, a stronghold of the Mahdi Army militia loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
U.S. soldiers pressed closer to Sadr City and the reception changed noticeably. In previous days, Shiite families opened their doors to welcome the troops — feeling that the American presence would be a buffer against feared attacks from Sunni militia.
On Sunday, in areas closer to Sadr City, parents slapped away the candy and lollipops given by American soldiers.
"The Baghdad security plan is very important to push Iraq ahead," said Haider al-Obeidi, a parliament member from the Dawa party of the prime minister al-Maliki.
Meanwhile, borders with Iran and Syria — shut for three days as the plan got under way — reopened Sunday. But new and strict rules will apply.
Moussawi was quoted in the Azzaman newspaper as saying the crossing points to the two nations would be open for only several hours a day and under "intense observation."
The United States and allies claim Iraqi militants receive aid and supplies from Iran, including parts for lethal roadside bombs targeting U.S. forces. Iran denies any role in trafficking weapons.