3 Iraqis die in attack on US convoy

The attack on the US military convoy occurred at about 12:45 pm (0945 GMT) near a roundabout in the southern Yarmuk district of the city, police said.

The US military confirmed the attack without providing details or saying if there were casualties.

But police First Lieutenant Talal Abdullah said three Iraqis travelling behind the military convoy were killed in the attack while three other bystanders were wounded in the ensuing gunfire by US troops.

An AFP correspondent at the scene saw three badly burnt bodies inside the damaged vehicle, while doctors at the Medical City Hospital confirmed receiving three people suffering from gunshot wounds.

Separately, police in the city said they discovered three headless bodies of Iraqis over the past 72 hours.

Two of the corpses were found yesterday abandoned in a cemetery and covered with blankets, while the third one was found Sunday in a plastic bag at the city's My Fair Lady roundabout, said Major Iyad Qassim.

"We have already identified two of the bodies and they were handed over to their families," he said.

Earlier four Iraqis were killed Monday in a drive-by shooting attack in the lawless town of Latifiyah. south of Baghdad, police said yesterday.

"The attackers were in plain clothes and masked. They opened fire on the car with Kalashnikovs," said Raed Maamuri, a police officer from the nearby city of Hilla.

"All the victims are Iraqis and their bodies have been taken to Latifiyah hospital," he said without elaborating on their identities.

One US soldier was killed and two others injured when a roadside bomb targeted their convoy as it was driving near Baghdad overnight, the military said in a statement yesterday.

"One... soldier is dead and two are injured as the result of an improvised explosive device attack on their convoy near Baghdad around 11:30 pm (2030 GMT) October 4," the army statement said.