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Bomb Kills Three U.S. Soldiers In Iraq
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500 U.S. soldiers have so far been killed in Iraq
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TIKRIT,
Iraq, January 17 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Three U.S.
soldiers and two Iraqi paramilitaries were killed Saturday, January
17, when a roadside bomb exploded by an American armored vehicle north
of Baghdad, engulfing it in flames.
Two
U.S. soldiers were also injured in the attack on the Bradley fighting
vehicle as a convoy patrolled a road near the town of Taji, about 19
miles north of Baghdad, looking for landmines, Lieutenant Colonel Bill
MacDonald of the U.S. 4th Infantry Division (4ID) was quoted as saying
by Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"The
improvised explosive device detonated by the front Bradley in the
patrol, causing the vehicle to catch fire," he added.
MacDonald
said the five fatalities, three U.S. 4ID soldiers and two from the
paramilitary Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, had all been in the same
vehicle when the attack occurred at 7:45 am (0445 GMT).
A
U.S. military quick reaction force detained three people fleeing the
scene in a white truck and seized bomb-making equipment, added the
military official.
The
injured were evacuated for treatment in Baghdad, MacDonald said.
The
latest deaths brought to 500 the total number of U.S. troops who have
died, since the Iraq invasion was launched last March, including 347
in combat, according to an AFP count, based on Pentagon-released
figures.
A
total of 228 U.S. occupation troops have been killed in combat with
resistance fighters since U.S. President George W. Bush declared major
fighting over on May 1.
Japanese
Troops Arrive
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Japanese advance party arrives at camp Virginia in northern Kuwait, 46 km south of Iraq |
This
came as an advance party of 35 Japanese troops arrived in Kuwait early
Saturday, Al-Jazeera.net quoted a U.S. military spokesman as saying.
This
is a preparatory step to deploy a 1000-strong force inside Iraq,
launching Japan's most controversial overseas military mission since
World War II.
Japanese
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's decision to contribute soldiers for
Iraq has met stiff public opposition, and the killing of two Japanese
diplomats in Iraq in November added to jitters.
The
35-strong team dressed in olive camouflaged fatigues were given a
ceremonial send-off at the Defense Agency's headquarters before
heading to the airport for the Kuwait journey.
"We
will strive to stabilize and improve the living conditions of Iraqi
people," Colonel Masahisa Sato, who heads the detachment, was
quoted by AFP.
Once
the detachment arrived in Kuwait, they would travel overland to the
southern Iraqi city of Samawa later this month, according to Jiji
Press and Kyodo news agencies.
When
the troops set foot on Iraqi soil, it will mark the first time since
World War II that Japan's military has engaged in operations in a
country where fighting is still going on.
An
advance team from the air force is already operating in Kuwait, where
Japanese planes will be based to transport medical and other supplies
to Iraqi airports.
Shrugging
off public disapproval, Koizumi said Friday, January 16, he hoped
people would be convinced the deployment was the right thing to do.
"I
am sure that as time passes people will understand it was the right
decision to send the Self-Defense Forces there and hope they will play
an active part," he said.
"We
cannot achieve peace just by preaching for it," he told a
convention of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), saying Japan
had an international responsibility to help.
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