Twin roadside blast kills three US soldiers

Three American soldiers were killed and another wounded in a large explosion west of Baghdad today.

Hospital staff said two Iraqi civilians also were killed.

The casualties occurred in “a large explosion,” a U.S. central command spokesman said.

A roadside bomb had exploded next to a passing US military convoy and a second bomb went off when reinforcements arrived, damaging vehicles and inflicting several casualties, witnesses said.

The attack occurred in Khaldiyah, 50 miles west of Baghdad. The area is a hotspot of guerrilla activity where several attacks have taken place against coalition forces.

Abdul Hamid Marzouq, a nurse at a nearby hospital where the casualties were taken, said two Iraqis were killed – Hadi Abd Shehab, the director of agriculture of Khaldiyah, and Hamd Nayef, a taxi driver.

Nayef, who was driving by at the time of the explosion, was injured n the head and face, said Marzouq. He said three people were injured.

Marzouq said Shehab died of a gunshot wound to the stomach. Witnesses said he was shot while standing in his office close the blast scene, and died on way to the hospital.

It was not clear who shot him.

Nameer Mohammed, who said he was standing about 500 yards away when the explosion occurred, described seeing a US military vehicle on fire after the first blast.

As more American forces came to the scene, another bomb went off, setting fire to another vehicle, he said.

In the confusion, the Americans fired randomly, he said, and claimed that many Iraqis were killed. This could not be immediately confirmed.

Mohammed said he carried several injured people to the hospital.

A US military spokeswoman in Baghdad would only confirm a “large explosion” in the area.

She gave no other details except to say it caused casualties among US soldiers and Iraqi civilians.