Three US soldiers injured in Iraq attack

A ROADSIDE bomb injured three American soldiers yesterday near Fallujah, a day after the grisly killing and mutilation of four US contract workers in the city.

The top US administrator in Iraq said the deaths would not go unpunished.

In Ramadi, west of Fallujah, six Iraqi civilians died and four were wounded on Wednesday evening in a car bombing at a market, said Lt Col Steve Murray, a coalition spokesman.

Iraqi police had not determined whether it was detonated by remote control or whether it was a suicide bomber within the car, Murray said.

Insurgents struck an American convoy with a bomb just outside Fallujah, wounding three Americans, Brig Gen Mark Kimmitt said.

They were flown to a combat support hospital.

Also, two explosions near a US-escorted fuel convoy in northern Baghdad wounded at least one Iraqi.

The attacks followed the ambush of the four American contractors in Fallujah on Wednesday.

Frenzied mobs dragged the burned, mutilated bodies of the Americans through the streets and strung two of them up from a bridge.

Five US soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division also died Wednesday when a bomb exploded under their M-113 armoured personnel carrier in Malahma, northwest of Fallujah, making it the bloodiest day for Americans in Iraq since January 8.

Police retrieved the remains of the four contractors on Wednesday night, wrapped them in blankets, and gave them to US forces, said Iraqi police officer Lt Salah Abdullah.

"We were shocked because our Islamic beliefs reject such behaviour," he said, referring to the abuse of the bodies.

Brig Gen Kimmitt said US troops would hunt down those who carried out the killings. "We will pacify that city. We will be back in Fallujah. It will be at the time and place of our choosing."

He said the military had tried to send Iraqi police to the scene during the attack.

"The event happened very, very rapidly, and by the accounts of the Iraqi police, by the time they got there, the situation was pretty well complete at that point," he said.

Iraqi police manned roadside checkpoints in and around Fallujah yesterday, but no US troops could be seen in the city.

"We will not let any foreigner enter Fallujah," said resident Sameer Sami. "Yesterday's attack is proof of how much we hate the Americans."

Another resident, Ahmed al-Dulaimi, said: "We wish that they would try to enter Fallujah so we'd let hell break lose."