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3 Marines
Killed In Iraq, Turkish Hostages Freed
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A US soldier views the Humvee vehicle which was destroyed in the attack
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BAGHDAD,
June 29 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Three US marines were
killed and two wounded when their convoy was hit in a bomb attack in
Baghdad Tuesday, June 29, in the first attack on US occupation troops
since the transfer of power to the interim Iraqi government a day
earlier.
Meanwhile,
three Turkish hostages held by an Iraqi group walked free Tuesday
while an American soldier missing since April was killed by another
group.
"Three
marines were killed and two wounded when a Marine convoy was attacked
with a roadside bomb in east
Baghdad
at
2:00 am
(2200 GMT) on June 29," the
US
military said in a statement a copy of which was sent to Agence
France-Presse (AFP).
The
deaths raise to 632 the number of American troops killed in action
since the US-led invasion of the oil-rich Arab country in March 2003.
Also
on Tuesday, two Iraqi fighters were killed in an attack on a
Baghdad
police station.
And
in the town of
Mahmudiyah
, south of the capital, one policeman was killed and another injured
in an attack on police headquarters.
The
string of attacks is the first since the handover
of power to interim prime minister Iyad Allawi Iraqi from the
US-led occupation authority in a stealthy and rushed ceremony Monday,
June 28.
Soldier
Killed
The
Qatar-based Aljazeera, in the meantime, said it had received a
statement from a group in
Iraq
announcing the execution of army Specialist Keith Maupin.
Maupin,
20, disappeared after his convoy was attacked near
Baghdad
in April, and is presumed to have been captured.
The
tape showed a gunman firing one shot at the soldier, wearing greenish
overalls and seen only from the back. The body collapsed into a hole,
AFP said after watching the tape in full.
Aljazeera
quoted a statement from the group as saying that the soldier was
killed because of
US
policy in
Iraq
.
The
US
military said it is analyzing the tape.
"We're
in the process of reviewing the tape. Nothing further has been decided
at this point," said army Sergeant Major Lewis Matson, a
spokesman for the US Central Command.
On
Sunday, June 27, Aljazeera aired a video tape showing masked men
threatening to behead Marine Corp Wassef Hassoun, who went missing in
Iraq
on June 21.
The
family of Hassoun, of Lebanese origin, in
Utah
identified him in the video, pleading for his safe release.
The
group said they would kill the soldier if all Iraqi prisoners were not
released.
Turks
Released
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The three Turkish hostages before their release (AFP) |
Meanwhile,
three Turkish hostages held by an Iraqi group walked free Tuesday,
according to a statement from the captors carried by Aljazeera.
"Jama'at
Al-Tawhid wal Jihad announces the release of the Turkish hostages for
the sake of Muslims in
Turkey
and their demonstrations
against [U.S. President George W.] Bush," a spokesman for the
group said.
"In
view of your honorable attitude ... we are freeing these hostages and
releasing them after they pledged to no longer help the
infidels," he added.
The
videotape showed three masked men, two of them armed, standing behind
the three Turkish captives, Abdulselam Bakir, Mehmet Bakir and Mustafa
Bal.
The
group had said in a tape broadcast Saturday, June 26, that the three
would be beheaded within 72 hours if Turkish firms continued working
for Americans in
Iraq
.
A
Turkish government official confirmed the three men had been freed.
"Yes,
it's true, they've been freed," he told AFP.
Seven
Turkish construction workers were
released by their Iraqi kidnappers on June 12.
Since
April, Iraqi groups have seized dozens of foreign workers. At least
four have been killed, including a
South Korean and an
American.
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