Iraq

Blast pushes U.S. deaths to 500

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TIKRIT, Iraq - A powerful bomb exploded under a U.S. armored vehicle in the cane fields north of Baghdad on Saturday, killing three American soldiers and pushing the U.S. death toll in the Iraq conflict to 500.

Reaching that threshold underscores the dangers still facing U.S. forces in Iraq as President Bush's administration prepares to seek help from the United Nations in building a new Iraq, after shunning the world organization for months.

Two Iraqi civil defense fighters also were killed and two American soldiers wounded when the bomb exploded under their Bradley fighting vehicle. The group was searching for land mines and roadside bombs near Taji, about 20 miles north of the Iraq capital, Lt. Col. Bill MacDonald of the 4th Infantry Division said.

The blast flipped the 30-ton vehicle and set it on fire, witnesses said. Three men fleeing in a white truck were detained, and soldiers found bombmaking material in the vehicle, MacDonald said. Residents reported that American soldiers rounded up an undetermined number of young men.

MacDonald said the remote-controlled bomb was made up of two 155mm artillery rounds and other explosives. Hours after, young Iraqis pilfered bits of charred metal in a large crater left by the blast.

The military also said a U.S. soldier died from a nonhostile gunshot wound south of Baghdad. The incident occurred Friday evening near Diwaniyah. No further details were released.

Most of the 500 deaths have occurred since President Bush declared an end to major fighting May 1. The death toll from the Gulf War, when an American-led coalition drove Saddam Hussein's invaders from Kuwait in 1991, was 315.

The deaths come as insurgents have shifted to using roadside bombs and hit-and-run tactics like the attack Saturday. A new troop rotation over the next four to six months will address that change, replacing heavy weaponry with high-tech, mobile fighting gear, a senior Army official told the Associated Press.

Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said troop morale remained high despite the rising death toll. U.S. officials say the number of attacks against coalition forces has declined sharply since November, in part because soldiers are using more aggressive tactics.

"I don't think the troops have any doubt what their mission is," Kimmitt said. "They know they have a nation that stands behind them. They know they have a military that stands behind them. ... I don't believe that any arbitrary ... casualty figure is going to cause any soldiers to lose their will or lose their focus."

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