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7 U.S. troops killed by bombs

A British soldier also dies of injuries from a roadside bombing on Friday in Basra.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published June 24, 2007

BAGHDAD - Roadside bombers killed seven U.S. troops Saturday, four of them in a single blast near Baghdad, and an eighth soldier died of a noncombat cause, raising to at least 28 the number of American soldiers killed in the past week.

Explosions aimed at U.S. patrols that kill several troops at once are common, but the recent frequency of such large-scale attacks may signal militants are using larger bombs or explosively formed penetrators, known as EFPs.

The military staged a series of counterattacks last week on roadside bomb factories and insurgent strongholds where stockpiles of explosives have been uncovered.

U.S. forces tipped off by Iraqi informants raided a safe house before dawn on Saturday and detained three militants suspected of ties to Iran, the military said. The operation in Sadr City, Baghdad's main Shiite enclave, was the latest in a series of raids on targets where militiamen are believed to have ties to Iran.

The United States claims Iran is arming Shiite militias and some Sunni insurgents with EFPs.

In the deadliest attack Saturday, four U.S. soldiers were killed and an Iraqi interpreter was wounded when a bomb blew up their vehicle during combat operations northwest of Baghdad.

Roadside bombs also killed a U.S. airman in Tikrit, and two U.S. soldiers in eastern Baghdad whose unit had recently targeted roadside bomb networks, the military said.

In addition, a British soldier died Saturday of wounds from a roadside bombing a day earlier in the southern city of Basra.

The U.S. military also cracked down elsewhere, killing seven al-Qaida fighters and 10 suspects in several areas - Tikrit, Mosul, east of Fallujah and south of Baghdad.

The military said in a statement that the raid in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown 80 miles north of Baghdad, targeted a senior leader of al-Qaida in Iraq.

Two men were shot to death as they sped toward U.S. forces in a vehicle that was found to have a bomb on the back seat. Two other suspects believed to have ties to a militant leader were detained, the military said.

At least 38 Iraqis were killed or found dead across Iraq, including 15 in Baghdad who were shot to death after being tortured.

Fla. woman among Iraq war dead

LEHIGH ACRES - A Lehigh Acres woman stationed in Iraq was killed in a grenade attack, the Pentagon said Saturday. Army Spc. Karen N. Clifton, 22, died Thursday after her vehicle was hit with a rocket propelled grenade in Baghdad. Clifton was assigned to the Military Police in Kaiserslautern, Germany.

[Last modified June 24, 2007, 01:28:47]