Two injured in Tikrit army base blast

Two US military police were slightly injured today in a blast outside a US Army base, witnesses said.

The explosion – thought to be an improvised explosive device – went off around 11am as an MP convoy was driving toward a gate at the main army compound in Tikrit, 120 miles north of Baghdad.

One of the soldiers sustained minor shrapnel injuries, while the other was undergoing surgery but was reported to be in no danger.

Earlier today, the 4th Infantry Division reported that another US soldier was wounded when his convoy came under attack in Tuz, about 60 miles south of the northern city of Kirkuk.

The soldier suffered gunshot wounds in the leg but was not in a life-threatening condition.

US troops in pursuit of the attackers on the convoy in the Tuz area detained three individuals and uncovered a weapons cache that included numerous rocket propelled grenade launchers and a submachine gun, said Maj. Josslyn Aberle, spokeswoman for the 4th Infantry Division. No damage was reported from the attacks.

Since Saturday, coalition forces in Tikrit have detained a total of 53 persons and uncovered a substantial amount of weaponry, including dozens of mortar rounds and Kalashnikov rifles, several heavy machine guns and two automatic weapons.

A US Army spokesman has confirmed a report earlier in the week of an American contractor who went missing by the Jabal Hamrin mountain ridge on the road north to Kirkuk.

The contractor, whose name and company were not released, had phoned in to report a flat tire but when assistance arrived at the scene, only the contractor’s car and some personal items were found.