BAGHDAD, 18 January 2004 — The number of US service members who have died in Iraq since the war began last March reached 500 yesterday after a roadside bomb detonated north of Baghdad, killing three US soldiers and two Iraqi civil defense troopers.
Two Americans also were wounded in the attack, which occurred when a Bradley Fighting Vehicle struck an explosive device on a road near Taji, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of Baghdad, said Lt. Col. Bill MacDonald, a spokesman for the 4th Infantry Division.
The vehicle caught fire, killing the three Americans and two Iraqis who were on joint US-Iraqi patrol, which was looking for roadside bombs, MacDonald said.
Three men fleeing in a white truck were detained and soldiers found bomb-making material in the vehicle, he added.
Also yesterday, the military said a US soldier died from a non-hostile gunshot wound south of Baghdad. The incident occurred Friday evening near Diwaniyah, the command said in a statement. No further details were released.
The deaths raised to 500 the number of US forces who have died since the US-led invasion of Iraq began on March 20. Of those, 346 died as a result of hostile action and 154 died of non-hostile causes, according to Defense Department figures in addition to those reported yesterday.
Most of the deaths — both combat and non-combat — have occurred since President George W. Bush declared an end to major fighting on May 1.
“I don’t think the troops have any doubt what their mission is. They know they have a nation that stands behind them. They know they have a military that stands behind them,” Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, deputy operations chief of coalition forces, said.
Yesterday’s bomb attack occurred near the Sunni village of Awad just west of Taji. Residents said American soldiers rounded up an undetermined number of young men after the blast in addition to the three in the truck.
Abed Ali, who lives near the scene, told reporters that he rushed to the site after hearing the loud explosion and saw the Bradley burning. The explosion left a large crater and young Iraqi men could be seen picking through the wreckage of the destroyed vehicle.
Separately, the commander of US forces in Iraq has ordered a criminal investigation into reports of abuse of prisoners at a coalition detention center.
On the political front, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, the country’s most influential Shiite leader, demanded that members of a new provisional legislature be chosen by voters. The Americans want them selected by regional caucuses.
Paul Bremer, the US administrator for Iraq, said in Washington that the United States will revise its plan to create self-rule in Iraq, but he rejected postponement of a June 30 deadline for ending the occupation and handing over power.
