A roadside bomb killed three U.S. troops and an interpreter north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said Wednesday, and Iraqi police reported 14 Shiite gunmen were detained after fighting south of the capital.
The roadside bombing occurred about 10:45 p.m. Tuesday in Nineveh province. According to the AP, The U.S. statement contained no further details. Their deaths brought to at least 4,109 the number of U.S. military members who have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to the Associated Press count. At least 25 service members have died this month.
On Tuesday, four Americans were killed in blast. Two of the U.S. dead were soldiers, the military said. The U.S. Embassy said the two dead American civilians included one State Department and one Defense Department employee.An Italian of Iraqi origin who was working as an interpreter for the Americans also was killed, according to the Italian Foreign Ministry.
On Wednesday, American forces in Baghdad also killed three gunmen who fired on an American convoy that had stopped along the side of the road just west of the city's airport, the U.S. said.
The fighting in the south broke out before dawn near Nassiriyah, 200 miles south of Baghdad, as Iraqi forces were conducting house-to-house searches for Shiite militants. Nassiriyah police chief Brig. Gen. Sabah al-Fatlawi said 14 suspects had been arrested but that sporadic clashes were continuing.
