A suicide bomber activated his car Thursday south of Kirkuk, killing two Iraqi Army soldiers and three bystanders, and a second car bomber attacked a joint U.S.-Iraqi patrol in the center of Samarra, killing three people and wounding more than a dozen.
The blast in Tuz Khormato, south of Kirkuk, wounded at least 16 people, including eight soldiers, said Sarhad Qader, a police official. According to The AP, the blast took place near an Iraqi Army checkpoint guarding a Shiite shrine where pilgrims had gathered to celebrate a major religious festival.
In Samarra, north of Baghdad, another suicide car bomber attacked a joint U.S.-Iraqi patrol in the city center, said police official Qassim Omar. Dr. Alaa Al-Deen Mohammed of the city hospital said at least 15 people were wounded .
The blasts came as the U.S. military declared that two US troops died in separate clashes Wednesday. One soldier died from wounds after a clash in northern Mosul. Another soldier was killed when his patrol came under fire in Baghdad, the military said.
Meanwhile, Qatar-based Al-Jazeera satellite television aired a tape Wednesday showing three kidnapped Romanian journalists and a fourth unidentified person - likely an American - with guns pointed at them. The station said the four were being held by an unidentified group and no demands were made.
Romanian media officials confirmed on Thursday that the three journalists shown were the same journalists reported kidnapped late Monday near their hotel in Baghdad. The State Department said an American was taken hostage with them but gave no further details.
Private Romanian television station Realitatea TV reported that an Iraqi-American who worked as the journalists' translator was the fourth person kidnapped.
