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WASHINGTON, Sept. 22, 2004 – A vehicle-borne bomb killed one U.S. soldier and injured four others today in Baghdad, officials reported.
The explosion occurred near a traffic checkpoint. Immediately after the blast, four wounded soldiers were taken to a medical facility, where one died. A fifth soldier was slightly wounded from the explosion. Later in the day, 1st Infantry Division troops on patrol in Samarra came under small-arms and rocket fire directed by insurgents positioned near a mosque. The American soldiers didn't return fire. Insurgents had attacked the same U.S. patrol twice earlier in the day at different city locations. The American troops returned fire in those engagements and also called in aerial support. There were no American casualties. In other news, joint U.S. and Iraqi patrols skirmished with insurgents throughout the day in the streets of eastern Baghdad. The insurgents fired mortar rounds and rockets at the U.S. and Iraqi troops. No U.S. or Iraqi casualties resulted from the fighting. During the day, pro-government Iraqi forces found and disabled an improvised explosive device and discovered an enemy weapons cache consisting of eight mortar rounds and six packages of explosives. On Sept. 21, 24 suspected insurgents were captured along with a wide array of weapons and munitions during a 10-hour operation aimed at clearing out terrorist elements in central Baghdad. The operation involved elements of an Iraqi National Guard brigade and multinational forces. Raids were conducted throughout the day in nearly every neighborhood of the city's center. Task Force Baghdad military sources called the operation "a huge success." Besides the 24 detainees, the operation netted a large quantity of weapons and munitions. Weapons captured included two rocket-propelled grenade launchers, one 82 mm mortar system, two 60 mm mortar systems, 11 AK-47 assault rifles; three multiple rocket launch systems and one sniper rifle. Munitions captured included 38 107 mm rockets, 17 hand grenades, 12 RPG rounds, 26 mortar rounds and one 120 mm artillery round. (Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq news releases.)
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