A Plague on the Nation

Iraq Suicide Bomb Kills Nine U.S. Soldiers, Wounds 20 (Update4)
2007-04-24 05:20 (New York)


     (Adds bombings near Iranian embassy in eighth paragraph.)

By Ed Johnson
     April 24 (Bloomberg) -- A suicide car bomber killed nine
U.S. soldiers and injured 20 in an attack on a patrol base
northeast of Baghdad in one of the deadliest attacks on
coalition forces in Iraq since the 2003 invasion.
     The bomber detonated the blast next to a U.S. military base
yesterday in Diyala province, where fighting between U.S. forces
and insurgents has increased in recent months. Fifteen soldiers
were returned to duty after medical attention, five others and
an Iraqi civilian are being treated in a coalition medical
center, the U.S. military said in an e-mailed statement.
     A separate bombing on a checkpoint near Diyala's provincial
council headquarters killed seven Iraqi policemen and wounded
12, the military said.
     U.S.-led coalition and Iraqi forces are fighting an
insurgency and attempting to stem sectarian violence between
Shiite and Sunni Muslim communities. More than 70 U.S. service
members have been killed in action this month as they intensify
efforts to quell violence in Baghdad and the western province of
al-Anbar.
     The security crackdown prompted insurgents to move north
into Diyala, which has become the third-deadliest region in Iraq
for U.S. forces, up from eighth in 2006, the Washington Post
reported this week. At least 17 U.S. soldiers have been killed
in Diyala since March.

                         Deadly Attack

     The most serious single attack against U.S. forces so far
occurred when a bomb killed 14 Marines in an amphibious assault
vehicle near the town of Haditha on Aug. 3, 2005.
     Some 2,693 U.S. service members had been killed in action
in Iraq as of yesterday, according to the Department of Defense
Web site. The total number of deaths from all causes was 3,313.
     Two car bombs detonated close to the Iranian Embassy in
Baghdad today, state television reported. At least one civilian
was injured. The embassy is close to the fortified Green Zone,
where government offices and Embassies are located.
     Bombings across Iraq yesterday killed at least 33 people
and wounded about 49. The worst attack took place in the western
city of Ramadi, where at least two car bombs killed 15 people
and wounded five others, state television reported.

--With reporting by Robin Stringer in London. Editor: Tighe
(jwn)

Story illustration: For more stories on the conflict in Iraq,
click on {TNI IRAQ DEF BN <GO>}

To contact the reporter on this story:
Ed Johnson in Sydney at +61-2-9777-8647 or
ejohnson28@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Paul Tighe at +61-2-9777-8626 or
ptighe@bloomberg.net.

[TAGINFO]


NI GEN
NI IRAQ
NI WAR
NI GOV
NI POL
NI DEF
NI US
NI UK
NI OILMARKET
NI FX
NI TERROR
NI STD
NI MIDEAST

#<596332.4149636.1.0.34.28824.96>#


#<625587.940942.1.0.34.28824.25>#
-0- Apr/24/2007 09:20 GMT