US snipers kill two at Iraqi weapons market

American snipers killed two men and wounded two others today in a raid on a weapons market in Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit.

The US military had posted marksmen around the marketplace after learning that weapons and ammunitions were being sold there every Friday.

Women ran screaming as the shots rang out, and a man unloading an AK-47 assault rifle from the boot of a car collapsed in a heap.

“When people pick up weapons and carrying them freely, they become combatants and we will engage them,” said US Lt Col Steve Russell. “I think we sent out a strong message today that you cannot walk around the streets with weapons.”

US commanders fear markets like the one targeted today are helping supply insurgents who have waged a guerilla war against the occupation forces since the fall of Baghdad.

That insurgency took on a new and frightening aspect yesterday when a huge car bomb rocked the Jordanian embassy in the capital, killing 17 people.

A nearby morgue where the bodies were taken had originally said 11 people were killed, but today raised the total by six.

More than 50 people were wounded by the bombing, which was so powerful it flung one car onto a rooftop and broke windows hundreds of yards away.

“What this shows is that in fact we have some terrorists that are operating here,” said US Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez, commander of US-led forces in Iraq. “It shows we are still in a conflict zone.”

Officials in Amman, the Jordanian capital, said evidence at the scene suggested it was an “orchestrated terrorist attack” aimed at Jordan.

Tensions between Jordan and Iraq have been high because of the Jordanian government’s support for the US-led invasion. Jordan also gave asylum last week to two of Saddam’s daughters.

Elsewhere in Baghdad yesterday, gunmen attacked a US patrol on a busy shopping street, sparking a fierce battle. Two US soldiers were wounded.