Suicide bomber kills 4 U.S. soldiers in Iraq
They are the first American military deaths blamed on hostile action in the country since Jan. 18. An Iraqi translator also died in the attack in Mosul, a city that remains a trouble spot.
Reporting from Baghdad — A suicide bomber detonated his car near a U.S. Army patrol Monday in the northern city of Mosul, killing four soldiers and their Iraqi translator.
They were the first American military deaths blamed on hostile action since Jan. 18, and the attack was the worst since May, when four troops died in a single incident.
Iraq's security situation has improved dramatically in recent months, but Ninevah province, of which Mosul is the capital, remains a trouble spot. U.S. military officials say the city has become the last stronghold of Al Qaeda in Iraq, which has been largely run out of provinces farther south. Mosul is also a flash point of tension between Sunni Arabs and Kurds, who are vying for influence in northern Iraq.
A brief military statement said three soldiers died at the scene and a fourth died later of his wounds, along with the translator.
Iraqi and U.S. officials have expressed hope that the recent provincial council elections will help quell tension in the north, where councils are dominated by Kurds and Shiites because of most Sunnis' boycott of the 2005 elections. According to results announced Thursday, the Sunni Arab nationalist Hadba political bloc won 48.4% of votes in Ninevah, with a Kurdish slate taking about 25%.
In another sign of Kurdish-Arab troubles, a bomb exploded Thursday in the disputed area of Khanaqin, a mainly Kurdish city of Diyala province that the Kurdistan regional government wants to incorporate into its semiautonomous Kurdistan region.
One guard was killed and four were injured in the attack, according to a spokesman for the guard unit.
Tina.susman@latimes.com
A special correspondent in Mosul contributed to this report.
