Soldiers shoot at bomber but can't stop explosion
February 18, 2008 at 3:43AM
A FEMALE SUICIDE BOMBER STRUCK A SHIITE NEIGHBORHOOD OF BAGHDAD ON SUNDAY, WITH HER EXPLOSIVES DETONATING AFTER IRAQI SOLDIERS FIRED THREE BULLETS AT HER. CASUALTY FIGURES WERE DISPUTED. TWO DOCTORS AND A POLICE OFFICER, WHO SPOKE ON THE CONDITION OF ANONYMITY BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T AUTHORIZED TO GIVE INFORMATION, SAID FOUR PEOPLE WERE KILLED AND 12 WOUNDED. THE U.S. MILITARY SAID THE ONLY DEATH WAS THAT OF THE BOMBER, WITH TWO IRAQI SOLDIERS WOUNDED.
According to the military, the bomber appeared to be a beggar with something bulky around her waist. When Iraqi troops asked her to raise her hands, she lifted one and wires were seen in her other hand. After being shot at, she staggered to a nearby shop and blew up. It was the fifth suicide attack by a woman this year.
Two U.S. soldiers were killed Sunday by small-arms fire in Diyala Province, northeast of Baghdad, where troops are trying push out insurgents, the U.S. military said. No other details were provided.
Rear Adm. Greg Smith announced the discovery of two large weapons caches tied to Iranian-backed "special groups," a term used by the U.S. military to describe Iraqis who go to Iran to receive training. Combined, the two caches had about 300 mortar rounds, 900 anti-aircraft rounds, 50 rocket sleds and 100 pounds of explosives, Smith said, giving no location for the finds.
The Iraqi government hopes to remove thousands of concrete barriers that protect residents from bomb attacks from Baghdad streets within six months, said Brig. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, the chief Iraqi military spokesman for the capital. In the same time span, he said officials also hope to reopen the Imams bridge over the Tigris River.
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