At least six U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq in the last 24 hours

<snip>WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn.

There has been a spike in the number of attacks against U.S. and other coalition service personnel here in Iraq. This morning, an American soldier was killed. I actually saw the explosion. I heard a loud boom, rushed out to my balcony, saw a cloud of smoke rising in the air. What happened was a member of an explosives ordinance demolition team had found what's called an improvised explosive device, tried to disarm it, and apparently it just blew him up, killed him.

Last night, another American soldier was killed, northern suburbs of Baghdad. Another improvised explosive device. This particular soldier was out on a patrol just about 24 hours ago. His Humvee was traveling through an area. There was an explosion again. The Humvees are what we call soft-skin vehicles. Any shrapnel that goes into these improvised explosive devices just slices right through them. One U.S. soldier killed there, another wounded.

Indeed, in the last 24 hours, at least six U.S. soldiers killed. There in the town of Erbil. The United States had an office, a building which it used for operations in the region, just about 20 hours ago from now. There was an SUV, a Toyota parked out front. It had explosives in it. Another extraordinarily loud, apparently remotely-controlled detonation. One Iraqi inside, or in the area, was killed. A number of others, that is 53 others, and we're not sure of the nationalities of the others, the 53 others also were injured in that attack.

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http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGADMNWUFKD.html

Suicide Bomber Hits U.S. Intelligence Compound in Northern Iraq; Two Soldiers Killed in Baghdad

IRBIL, Iraq (AP) - A suicide bomber tried to drive a TNT-laden SUV into a U.S. intelligence compound in northern Iraq, but it blew up short of the target, killing three people and seriously wounding four American intelligence officers, officials said Wednesday.

A Kurdish security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said al-Qaida was behind the bombing in Irbil late Tuesday, less than two days before second anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. He gave no evidence to support the claim. snip

The U.S. military in Baghdad said four officers of the Defense Human Intelligence Service were wounded along with a Kurdish guard. The Defense Human Intelligence Service is part of the Defense Intelligence Agency, the military counterpart to the CIA.

In Washington, DIA spokesman Lt. Cmdr. James Brooks identified the wounded only as military intelligence officials. He would not confirm they were from his agency.

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Several Injured in Iraq Car Bombing

<snip>U.S. military officials said they could not immediately confirm the report on CNN-Turk, a local subsidiary of U.S.-based CNN.

U.S. soldiers flew to the site by helicopter and cordoned off the area together with local Iraqi Kurdish fighters.

A Turkish reporter at the scene said by telephone that the blast collapsed the front of the two-story building. He said that most of the injured were from nearby houses.

Witnesses said two people were killed and ten injured, but hospital officials could not confirm those reports, the Turkish reporter said.

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Edit: This blast was felt at least three miles away.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=716&e=4&u=/ap/20030910/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

Bomber Kills 3 Near U.S. Compound in Iraq

<snip>Bullion, speaking from his office three miles outside Irbil, said the SUV blast was felt there. He said the Americans were collecting intelligence in the region and that the explosion "would have no impact on our operations."

The blast also injured 41 Iraqis and destroyed several homes, the Kurdish official said. The wounded included children who lived nearby and Iraqi Kurdish guards.

<snip>The Kurdish security official said U.S. intelligence officers worked in the bombed building, with some of the top officers also sleeping there. Others had quarters in two villas not far away.

"It was a blasphemy to put their base in a civilian neighborhood," said Najib Abdullah, manager of a nearby gas station. "The whole neighborhood shook. Chunks of concrete were falling from the sky."

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US troops embroiled in firefight as attacks persist in Iraq

<snip>The latest strikes against US forces came after military authorities recorded 22 attacks over a 24-hour period stretching from Tuesday into Wednesday.

This compared with an average of 12 to 15 attacks a day since US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) declared an end to major combat operations on May 1.

Anti-American feeling has run high in Fallujah ever since US troops killed at least 16 demonstrators in late April.

More recently, US troops shot dead one Iraqi policeman and seriously wounded another on Wednesday after a bomb struck their convoy on the outskirts of the town.

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