Gunmen ambushed a U.S. military convoy in northern Iraq on Monday, killing an American soldier and wounding four others. Also, four soldiers were wounded in what appeared to be a land-mine attack in a wealthy Baghdad neighborhood, military officials and witnesses said.
It was one of the most violent days for U.S. troops since the war ended last month.
In the north, unidentified attackers opened fire on an eight-vehicle convoy on a resupply mission to a base near the town of Hadithah, about 120 miles north of Baghdad, the U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
The command said the ambush happened at 6:15 a.m. and that the troops belonged to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment.
The gunmen used machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades in the attack, the latest of several on coalition forces this month. The statement said helicopters were immediately dispatched to the area to find the assailants.
The names of the two soldiers were withheld pending notification of their families.
In the well-off Baghdad neighborhood of Yarmouk, witnesses said they heard several explosions and a 15-minute burst of gunfire Monday afternoon along the road to the airport, west of the capital.
A U.S. soldier near the scene said it was an ambush and that at least one Humvee was destroyed.
Another soldier, who also refused to give his name, said it appeared the Humvee hit a land mine and four soldiers were wounded. Troops blocked the highway, keeping reporters from the scene and causing a traffic jam.
Three American occupants of the Humvee were injured, said a third soldier, speaking on condition of anonymity. He said one was burned all over his body, a second was burned on the face and hands and a third sustained minor burns to his hands.
In other news:
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David Hancock
David Hancock is a home page editor for CBSNews.com.