A car exploded at a U.S. checkpoint in western Iraq, killing three US soldiers, a pregnant woman and the car's driver, the U.S. Central Command said Friday.
Later, the Iraqi government news agency, in a report carried on Arab satellite TV, said that two Iraqi women carried out a suicide attack on U.S. forces northwest of Baghdad. It appeared to refer to the same blast.
Al-Jazeera also carried video of two women vowing to commit suicide attacks. The station did not specify if the two were involved in the explosion, though it broadcast their statements immediately after citing the news agency report.
The apparent suicide attack occurred Thursday night about 11 miles southwest of the Haditha Dam.
Al-Jazeera broadcast separate videotapes of two Iraqi women, each of whom stood in front of the Iraqi flag, right hand on the Quran placed on a table in front of her and left hand brandishing an automatic rifle.
A woman who identified herself as "martyrdom-seeker Noor Qaddour al-Shanbari" swore on the holy book of Islam "to defend Iraq ... and take revenge from the enemies of the nation, Americans, imperialists, Zionists" and Arabs who have submitted to the foreigners.
"We say to our leader and holy war comrade, the hero commander Saddam Hussein, that you have sisters that you and history will boast about," said one woman.
In a separate video, another woman, who identified herself as Wadad Jamil Jassem, stood in a similar pose. "I have devoted myself for jihad for the sake of God and against the American, British and Israeli infidels and to defend the soil of our precious and dear country," she said.
Meanwhile, an American military spokesperson said two US soldiers were killed on Friday as troops battled to take control of Baghdad's main airport while a third was killed in a Humvee accident after coming under fire on their approach.
One officer was killed and his driver wounded when their vehicle came under mortar fire from an Iraqi position outside Saddam International Airport while an engineer platoon sergeant was shot and killed by "an enemy infiltration attempt" on the periphery of the complex, said Colonel Will Grimsley, commander of the US Army's 3rd Infantry Division's 1st Brigade. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
