Insurgents killed three Iraqis and an American in a pair of attacks in the capital, while local officials said two days of clashes between US troops and insurgents have killed at least 13 Iraqis in a town northeast of Baghdad.
In southern Iraq, work crews rushed to fix sabotaged oil pipelines, anticipating a partial resumption of exports after attacks this week halted oil flow. Officials in the US-led coalition said tests on the pipelines could begin as early as yesterday.
The three Iraqi civilians were killed in a coordinated ambush in Baghdad on Friday, which began when a roadside bomb exploded in the Kamalaya district in the east of the city, the US command said. Insurgents opened fire from the rooftops. US troops returned fire and the insurgents "sustained moderate casualties," the statement said.
Several hours later, six mortar shells exploded at a US camp in southern Baghdad, killing an American soldier and slightly injuring a civilian contractor, the military said.
The attacks were among several in Sunni Muslim areas of Iraq following a series of deadly car bombings this week that have unnerved an Iraqi public before the transfer of sovereignty on June 30.
Elsewhere, insurgents attacked US troops on Friday at a police station in the Sunni Triangle city of Samarra, firing rocket-propelled grenades and rifles after warning shopkeepers to close, witnesses said. US troops returned fire, wounding two attackers, residents said by telephone. There was no report on US casualties.
In the south, British soldiers traded small arms fire overnight with Shiite fighters loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Amarah, witnesses said. There were no British casualties but two insurgents were killed.
Municipal officials in Buhriz, a Sunni Muslim town located about 55km northeast of Baghdad, said at least 13 Iraqis had been killed in clashes since Thursday.
The fighting began on Thursday when American solders entered the town looking for insurgents, who opened fire on them, officials and townspeople said. Ten insurgents were killed and one American soldier was wounded in the ensuing firefight, spokesman Major Neal O'Brien said.
Fighting resumed on Friday when another patrol came under fire in Buhriz. At least five insurgents were killed, O'Brien said. There were no US casualties. Fighting persisted intermittently throughout the day, witnesses said.
Residents said about 20 Iraqis were wounded in the Friday clashes, and that many townspeople had fled their homes to escape the fighting.
In an afternoon clash, insurgents wearing red scarves blasted a US patrol with machine gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades as the Americans tried to enter the market district.
"We are ready to defend our city against the invasion by the occupiers," one youthful fighter said, refusing to give his name. Electricity was cut off in the city due to power lines damaged in the clashes.
Work crews were trying to repair damaged oil pipelines in the south. A coalition spokesman said the smaller of two oil pipelines blasted by insurgents this week had nearly been repaired, although engineers were still examining the larger one.
Spokesman Dominic d'Angelo said tests could begin on the smaller pipeline yesterday but full exports would probably not resume before June 16. Iraqi exports were suspended on Wednesday because of the attacks on the pipelines, which carry crude oil from the southern fields to tankers in the Gulf.
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman told a news conference, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military. The apology followed a report released on Wednesday by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection,
Indonesian police have arrested 13 people after shocking images of alleged abuse against small children at a daycare center went viral, sparking outrage across the nation, officials said on Monday. Police on Friday last week raided Little Aresha, a daycare center in Yogyakarta on Java island, following a report from a former employee. CCTV footage circulating on social media showed children, most younger than two, lying on the floor wearing only diapers, their hands and feet bound with rags. The police have confirmed that the footage is authentic. Police said they also found 20 children crammed into a room just 3m by 3m. “So
About 240 Indians claiming descent from a Biblical tribe landed at Tel Aviv airport on Thursday as part of a government operation to relocate them to Israel. The newcomers passed under a balloon arch in blue and white, the colors of the Israeli flag, as dozens of well-wishers welcomed them with a traditional Jewish song. They were the first “bnei Menashe” (“sons of Manasseh”) to arrive in Israel since the government in November last year announced funding for the immigration of about 6,000 members of the community from the states of Manipur and Mizoram in northeast India. The community claims to descend from
‘TROUBLING’: The firing of Phelan, who was an adviser to a nonprofit that supported the defense of Taiwan, was another example of ‘dysfunction’ under Trump, a US senator said US Secretary of the Navy John Phelan has been fired, a US official and a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, in another wartime shakeup at the Pentagon coming just weeks after US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ousted the Army’s top general. The Pentagon announced his departure in a brief statement, saying he was leaving the administration “effective immediately,” but it did not provide a reason or say whether it was his decision to go. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Phelan was dismissed in part because he was moving too slowly to implement reforms to
RSS