Three US soldiers killed in roadside bombings

Three American soldiers and their Iraqi interpreter were killed and three other soldiers were wounded in a pair of roadside bombings in central Iraq.

In the first attack, a soldier with the 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment was killed and another wounded in a bombing about 9.50pm yesterday just west of Baghdad, the US Central Command said.

About an hour later, another roadside bombing killed two soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division and their Iraqi translator, the military said. Two other soldiers were injured in the attack, which took place in al-Haswah about 25 miles south of the Iraqi capital.

The latest deaths bring to 91 the number of American soldiers killed by hostile fire in Iraq since President George Bush declared an end to major combat operations here May 1.

A total of 320 US service members have died in Iraq since the United States and Britain launched military operations against Saddam Hussein’s government on March 20.

US troops carried out a raid today and captured an officer in the former Iraqi army’s special forces who allegedly helped organise bombings and other attacks against American forces, the military said.

The arrest in a pre-dawn raid in the city of Baqouba, north of Baghdad, came as a roadside bomb exploded near a convoy of US troops driving near central Tikrit, slightly injuring three soldiers.

The former officer was captured along with six other people and American troops discovered a suitcase full of bomb making materials along with small arms, rocket propelled grenades and mortar sights, various passports, large amounts of ammunition and a large sum of money, said spokeswoman Major Josslyn Aberle.

She said the passports included one from Germany, one from Russia and a number from countries in the region – all belonging to the former officer.

Large sections of Baghdad were in turmoil today after an explosion inside the Foreign Ministry compound.

Major John Frisbie said explosion caused a foot wide crater in the ministry car park.

But witness Hussein Amin said a mortar shell or rocket-propelled grenade was fired at the ministry compound, landed near the office of Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari and broke windows.