Attacks persist in spite of handover

A ROADSIDE bomb killed three US Marines and wounded two others yesterday in the first fatal attack on American forces since the transfer of sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government, US officials said.

The attack on the marines occurred at 10am in east Baghdad, the US command said in a statement.

Despite Monday's formal end of the occupation, about 160,000 soldiers mostly Americans remain in Iraq as a multinational force to help the new Iraqi government to restore order.