US troops killed 11 attackers after coming under attack in a town north of Baghdad, a military statement said yesterday. In former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, a roadside bomb injured three soldiers.
Gunmen ambushed a US patrol Monday afternoon in the town of Samarra, 100km north of Baghdad, a statement said. The attackers used automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades but caused neither casualties nor damage to the patrol, which called in reinforcements, the statement said.
A company commander on the scene said 11 insurgents were killed in the ensuing firefight.
Samarra, a volatile town in the so-called Sunni Triangle north and west of Baghdad, was the scene of clashes between US troops and insurgents last month. US commanders initially claimed to have killed 54 guerrillas, but local residents and police reported that less than 10 people -- most of them civilians -- died in the firefight.
In Tikrit, US officers said three soldiers were wounded on Tuesday by a roadside bomb. Two were said to have sustained serious injuries.
Meanwhile, a military statement said that soldiers in the town of Ramadi west of Baghdad killed three protesters and wounded two more protesters on Monday, after up to 750 people rallied in a show of support for Saddam.
The statement said that US troops were fired upon repeatedly and that one soldier was wounded.
Pro-Saddam demonstrations have been held in several Iraqi towns, casting doubts on claims by the US-that the people of Iraq universally welcomed his arrest.
In Fallujah, another hotspot of anti-American resistance west of Baghdad, crowds chanting "we defend Saddam with our souls" overran the mayor's office Monday after Iraqi police withdrew from the streets, the military said.
On Tuesday, a US military contingent pulled up to the municipal building in an apparent show of force. Dozens of troops, two tanks and a number of Bradleys were involved. Helicopters hovered overhead.
In the northern city of Mosul, soldiers fired warning shots to disperse hundreds of demonstrators marching through the center of town Tuesday, waving old banknotes with Saddam's image. Helicopters flew over the crowd and several armored vehicles were deployed nearby.
A military said Tuesday that a US soldier died when he fell out of the vehicle in which he was riding north of Baghdad. It did not provide further details on the incident.
Meanwhile, more than 200 Shiites and victims of Saddam's regime marched in central Baghdad Tuesday against the deposed dictator and to call for elections.
"One Islamic nation! Congratulations, the people of freedom!" they called over a loudspeaker with their fists raised.
They held aloft pictures of the bearded cleric Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the president of Iraq's interim Governing Council, and his murdered brother Mohammed Baqr al-Hakim, who led the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
All the protesters were men and boys except for about 10 women clad in black robes with only their faces exposed.
"Death for Saddam. Death for Baathists," said one of their banners, referring to Saddam's ruling party.
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