An American Army truck hit an explosive west of Baghdad wounding six U.S. soldiers early Thursday, and Iraqi fighters in the capital wounded two other American soldiers in separate incidents, U.S. military officials and witnesses said, according to AP.
An explosion during a demonstration in Baqouba, 55 kilometers northeast of Baghdad, killed one person and injured at least five. The demonstrators were protesting the U.S. Army's alleged detention of the city's top Shiite cleric. U.S. soldiers also injured a six-year-old boy and killed another bystander, as well as an armed Iraqi, military officials and civilian witnesses said.
Witnesses said a plastic bag filled with explosives exploded in the middle of a crowd of several hundred demonstrators, who were protesting the U.S. Army's detention of Ali Abdul Kareem al Madani, the city's top Shiite cleric.
After the blast outside the governor's office, people screamed and ran in different directions. U.S. soldiers patrolling from atop a nearby building fired shots into the air.
On Thursday morning, many of the cleric's books were strewn about on the floor of the home and several vehicles outside had their windshields smashed. Witnesses said the U.S. troops caused the damage.
In Ramadi, some 100 kilometers west of Baghdad, a two-Humvee convoy struck an explosive early Thursday, wounding six soldiers, said Sgt. Patrick Compton, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad.
And ambushers fired a grenade at a U.S. Army convoy in downtown Baghdad Thursday morning, wounding one soldier. American troops who returned fire killed an Iraqi bystander, witnesses said.
As the convoy moved along Baghdad's Haifa Street, a man fired a rocket-propelled grenade while standing in a car's sunroof; the grenade exploded beneath an Army Humvee, said a bystander. Most of the soldiers jumped from the Humvee before the explosion, he said. One soldier who appeared to be injured was evacuated.
As the attackers sped away, U.S. soldiers began firing wildly, witnesses said, killing the driver of another car.
In a firefight in the west Baghdad neighborhood of Kadamiyah, an American soldier from the Army's 1st Armored Division was wounded Thursday morning and a six-year-old boy was injured, Compton said. (Albawaba.com)
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