Seven more US soldiers killed in Iraq

Seven more US soldiers killed in Iraq

54 minutes ago

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Seven more US soldiers have been killed in a single day of intense fighting around Iraq, the military said on Sunday.

Two soldiers were killed and six wounded in two separate attacks on Saturday in Diyala, a restive province northeast of the capital Baghdad which is in the grip of an Al-Qaeda insurgency.

A third soldier died in western Baghdad, and two were killed on separate patrols south of the city in an area where US troops are searching for two GIs kidnapped by Al-Qaeda more than three weeks ago.

"The patrol attempted to question two suspicious people near a mosque. When soldiers approached the two men, one person detonated himself, killing one soldier," said the statement.

Two other soldiers were killed in Nineveh province in northern Iraq when their patrol was hit by a roadside bomb.

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Bomb releases chlorine in Iraq's Diyala province

At least 62 are made ill. U.S. says seven more soldiers are killed in two days.
By Garrett Therolf and Alexandra Zavis, Times Staff Writers
9:12 AM PDT, June 3, 2007

BAGHDAD -- A car bomb exploded about 200 yards from the entrance of a U.S. military base northeast of Baghdad today, unleashing a cloud of chlorine that sickened at least 62 personnel but caused no injuries, the military said.

The use of chlorine canisters to turn an ordinary bomb into a chemical weapon has become a signature tactic of insurgents fighting U.S. and Iraqi forces in Al Anbar province, west of Baghdad. But today's attack was believed to be the first time the tactic was used in Diyala province, north and east of the capital.

The U.S. military, meanwhile, announced the deaths of seven more soldiers in the past two days. Last month was the third deadliest on record for U.S. forces in Iraq, with 127 personnel reported killed.

A thick smell of chorine hung over the U.S. base on the edge of the Diyala provincial capital, Baqubah, after today's attack. The soldiers affected sought treatment for dizziness and nausea, but none of the cases was believed to be life-threatening, said Maj. Raul Marquez, a military spokesman.

An hour earlier, nine mortar rounds were fired at the base, injuring two soldiers. One soldier was hit by shrapnel in the forehead while at a barbershop for a haircut before going on leave, the military said. Another suffered a gash to his hand.

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