US-led coalition stands firm on transition plans

Iraqi girls look out of their shattered window after an explosion went off as a US patrol drove past, near a hotel in Baghdad's upmarket Karrada district yesterday. There were no immediate reports of casualties. PHOTO: AFP

In a day of violence, eight US soldiers and seven Iraqis were killed in drive-by shootings, bombings and air crashes across the war-shattered country.

Steadfast in the latest tests to their resolve, the coalition's leaders Saturday sought to strengthen the case for their vision of restoring sovereignty to Iraq as unease among the country's majority Shiite Muslims continued to simmer.

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Three US soldiers were killed and six wounded when a car bomb exploded at a military checkpoint in the western town of Khaldiyah on Saturday, the US military and witnesses said. At least eight Iraqis were also wounded.

Just six hours earlier, two US soldiers perished when their convoy was attacked by a home-made bomb north of Fallujah.

And in the oil refinery town of Beiji, 200km north of Baghdad, a US soldier died of wounds sustained in a rocket-propelled grenade attack on his vehicle, a US military spokeswoman said.

The latest killings brought to 240 the number of US soldiers killed in action in Iraq since US President George W. Bush declared major combat over on May 1.

Two US pilots were also killed when their helicopter came down near the northern city of Kayyarah, but it was not known if the crash was caused by hostile fire.

Four Iraqi civilians were killed and more than 30 wounded when another device exploded outside a crowded courthouse in the town of Samarra, 125km north of Baghdad, police and US officials said.

In Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul respectively, an Iraqi traffic policeman and a police officer were mown down in separate drive-by shootings, police said. Another policeman was killed by a bomb near the northern oil centre of Kirkuk.

An improvised bomb exploded in the capital's upmarket Karrada district early Sunday, in an apparent attempt to target a passing US military patrol. There were no casualties.

The latest violence marred the start of a UN security mission which arrived Friday, ending a three-month absence of UN international staff since a spate of deadly attacks last year.

The mission could pave the way for a UN team to assess the feasibility of holding elections in Iraq prior to a June 30 deadline for handing over sovereignty.