ZoneOne
04-29-2004, 08:28 AM
sorry to bring bad news --- :(
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Eight U.S. troops died in a car bombing Thursday and two others were killed in separate incidents in Iraq, according to the U.S. military.
The car bombing in Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad, also wounded four troops, a military spokesman told CNN.
Hours earlier in eastern Baghdad, a rocket-propelled grenade attack killed a U.S. soldier from the 1st Cavalry, according to the coalition.
An attack in Ba'qubah, north of Baghdad, killed another U.S. soldier, U.S. military officials said.
With the deaths, 737 U.S. troops have been killed in the Iraq war -- 534 from hostile fire, 203 in non-hostile incidents, according to U.S. military figures.
Meanwhile, west of the capital in Fallujah, U.S. military officials working to curb violence in Fallujah are negotiating numerous possible maneuvers with friendly Iraqi forces in the area, but no deal has been struck, a senior military official told CNN Thursday.
The official also stressed that no deal with insurgents in the area has been struck.
Earlier, Los Angeles Times reporter Tony Perry told CNN that Iraqi and U.S. officials had reached a tentative agreement that would transfer power of Fallujah to the new Iraqi army.
Sheikhs were to gather in Fallujah from elsewhere in Iraq for cease-fire talks Thursday after a rise in clashes in recent days.
Late Wednesday, an AC-130 Spectre aircraft fired its cannons on targets in northeastern Fallujah, causing large fires in the area where insurgents fought U.S. troops earlier in the day.
There were no details on casualties. Marines engaged in firefights across the northern part of the city, and loudspeakers from mosques were urging insurgents to take up arms and fight.
In a dramatic late-afternoon firefight on Wednesday, Marine helicopters and snipers in Fallujah cranked up an assault on three buildings harboring insurgents.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said he hoped the Fallujah conflict would be over by June 30, when the coalition transfers political power to Iraq.
"The Marines have cordoned off the town, we're hoping that the tribal sheikhs who have come to help with this situation will be able to talk to the people inside the town and say let's end this, let's bring this to a conclusion," Powell said.
In Washington, President Bush said fighting between Marines and insurgents Tuesday and Wednesday was taking place in "pockets of resistance."
"Our military commanders will take whatever action is necessary to secure Fallujah," he said.
While at the United Nations, Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged all parties to refrain from violence and said the United States should do all it can to seek a peaceful end to the confrontation in Fallujah.
"It is definitely time now for those who prefer restraint and dialogue to make their voices heard," Annan said.
Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said they still want to give negotiations a chance and that most of the fighting has been limited to one area of the city.
"The vast majority of Fallujah is under a cease-fire," said Kimmitt. "But it seems as if in the northwest and the north-central area of Fallujah, there seems to be a determined group of insurgents that don't want to put down their arms."
U.S. commanders paused the offensive against insurgents earlier in this month to let negotiators try to arrange a return to Iraqi civil control in the city, but the fighting hasn't stopped despite a declared cease-fire.
The Marines were deployed in Fallujah in response to the killing and mutilation of four American contractors by insurgents there on March 31.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Eight U.S. troops died in a car bombing Thursday and two others were killed in separate incidents in Iraq, according to the U.S. military.
The car bombing in Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad, also wounded four troops, a military spokesman told CNN.
Hours earlier in eastern Baghdad, a rocket-propelled grenade attack killed a U.S. soldier from the 1st Cavalry, according to the coalition.
An attack in Ba'qubah, north of Baghdad, killed another U.S. soldier, U.S. military officials said.
With the deaths, 737 U.S. troops have been killed in the Iraq war -- 534 from hostile fire, 203 in non-hostile incidents, according to U.S. military figures.
Meanwhile, west of the capital in Fallujah, U.S. military officials working to curb violence in Fallujah are negotiating numerous possible maneuvers with friendly Iraqi forces in the area, but no deal has been struck, a senior military official told CNN Thursday.
The official also stressed that no deal with insurgents in the area has been struck.
Earlier, Los Angeles Times reporter Tony Perry told CNN that Iraqi and U.S. officials had reached a tentative agreement that would transfer power of Fallujah to the new Iraqi army.
Sheikhs were to gather in Fallujah from elsewhere in Iraq for cease-fire talks Thursday after a rise in clashes in recent days.
Late Wednesday, an AC-130 Spectre aircraft fired its cannons on targets in northeastern Fallujah, causing large fires in the area where insurgents fought U.S. troops earlier in the day.
There were no details on casualties. Marines engaged in firefights across the northern part of the city, and loudspeakers from mosques were urging insurgents to take up arms and fight.
In a dramatic late-afternoon firefight on Wednesday, Marine helicopters and snipers in Fallujah cranked up an assault on three buildings harboring insurgents.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said he hoped the Fallujah conflict would be over by June 30, when the coalition transfers political power to Iraq.
"The Marines have cordoned off the town, we're hoping that the tribal sheikhs who have come to help with this situation will be able to talk to the people inside the town and say let's end this, let's bring this to a conclusion," Powell said.
In Washington, President Bush said fighting between Marines and insurgents Tuesday and Wednesday was taking place in "pockets of resistance."
"Our military commanders will take whatever action is necessary to secure Fallujah," he said.
While at the United Nations, Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged all parties to refrain from violence and said the United States should do all it can to seek a peaceful end to the confrontation in Fallujah.
"It is definitely time now for those who prefer restraint and dialogue to make their voices heard," Annan said.
Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said they still want to give negotiations a chance and that most of the fighting has been limited to one area of the city.
"The vast majority of Fallujah is under a cease-fire," said Kimmitt. "But it seems as if in the northwest and the north-central area of Fallujah, there seems to be a determined group of insurgents that don't want to put down their arms."
U.S. commanders paused the offensive against insurgents earlier in this month to let negotiators try to arrange a return to Iraqi civil control in the city, but the fighting hasn't stopped despite a declared cease-fire.
The Marines were deployed in Fallujah in response to the killing and mutilation of four American contractors by insurgents there on March 31.