US soldier, two civilians killed in Baghdad

AN American soldier was killed by a roadside bomb which ripped through his Humvee in Baghdad yesterday and at least two civilians died in shooting afterwards.

Brigadier General Mark Kimmit said shooting erupted from rooftops on both sides of the road in east Baghdad as soldiers returned to their stricken vehicle after removing their casualties from the scene.

Witnesses said four schoolchildren, all around 12, were killed in the gunfire but officials at a nearby hospital said they had received only the bodies of a man and a teenager.

Kimmit told a news conference schoolchildren were rifling through the Humvee when the soldiers returned and shooed them away.

He said an investigation into the incident was under way, but “we strongly suspect the shooting from the rooftops was responsible for any casualties”.

Other US soldiers were wounded by the bomb, Kimmit said, but did not give a number.

Some witnesses said four children were shot dead by American troops who opened fire randomly after the blast in eastern Baghdad. At least eight other people were wounded.