Eight U.S. soldiers and a European reporter were killed by roadside bombs in separate attacks yesterday – a bloody and terrible day when 95 Iraqis were either killed or found dead.
The deadly attack against U.S. forces occurred in Diyala province, where six U.S. troops and the reporter were killed when a huge bomb blew apart their vehicle, the U.S. military said.
Two American soldiers were wounded.
A military spokesman said the reporter was European and worked for a news organization that did not have a permanent presence in Baghdad. He declined to provide more details.
Two other American soldiers died yesterday in separate bombings in Baghdad.
Meanwhile, a car bomb killed 35 people and wounded 80 when it exploded in a wholesale-food market in a Shiite area of Baghdad where sectarian tensions are running high.
And in Samarra, 12 policemen – including the city’s police chief – were killed when Sunni insurgents carried out a suicide car bombing on police headquarters.
The market blast occurred about noon in the Baiyaa district of western Baghdad. It shattered vehicles, ripped roofs off nearby buildings and collapsed storefronts.
There were pools of blood on the dirt streets. Two pickup trucks filled with body parts were brought to the morgue.
“I was waiting near a shop to lift some boxes, when I saw the owner of the shop collapse,” said Sattar Hussein, 22, who works in the market.
“I helped him inside the shop, but he was already dead. The next thing I felt was pain in my left shoulder and some people rushing me to the hospital.”
No one claimed responsibility for the blast. With Post Wire Services