A roadside bomb killed three American troops when it hit their vehicle in Baghdad, the U.S. military said in a statement on Wednesday. The vehicle was struck in the northwestern part of the capital late on Tuesday, the statement said, according to Reuters. 22 soldiers have been killed so far this month.
Also in Baghdad, a senior official with Iraq's Ministry of Science and Technology was wounded Wednesday morning when two roadside bombs apparently targeting him went off as he was driving through eastern Baghdad, police and ministry officials said. Deputy Minister Samir al-Attar was traveling in two-car convoy in Baghdad's Zayona neighborhood when the bombs went off at 7:30 a.m., said the police and ministry officials, according to the AP.
Two of al-Attar's guards and three civilian bystanders were wounded, the officials said. According to police, the first bomb missed the cars, but the second one - which detonated a minute later - hit the convoy.
Meanwhile, Australia's top military commander said on Wednesday the job of the country's combat forces in southern Iraq was done. According to Reuters, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston said Iraqi forces had not needed Australian backup for two years now. "The situation on the ground in Al Muthanna and Dhi Qar (provinces), the Iraqis are taking care of business," Houston told a hearing before Australia's upper house Senate.
"The conditions on the ground have been established whereby we can leave them to it and, because we have influenced their training, we are very confident in their ability to handle the circumstances in those two provinces. The job is done."
