Booby trapped car targets American vehicle in Baghdad

In an attack which is the second of its kind yesterday, several persons were killed and others injured in a booby trapped car explosion near an American military vehicle in al-Ameerat (princesses) streets in al-Mansour quarters in the downtown of Baghdad, according to sources in the Iraqi police.

The incident came hours after the killing of 11 Iraqi and injuring of more than 50 in a booby trapped car explosion that targeted volunteers in the national guard in al-Rabee street in Baghdad. Sources in the Iraqi police said the explosion resulted from "a suicide attack" and inflected material damages in buildings and cars.

Meantime, the American army admitted the killing of one of its soldiers in a bomb explosion that targeted a patrol near Tikrit city to the north of Iraq.

Three American soldiers were injured when a Black Hawk helicopter fell near al-Nasereyah to the south of Iraq, according to one American military spokesman.

The spokesman said that one helicopter was greatly damaged, noting that investigations are under way to know the reasons for its crash.

In al-Sader city, news reports quoted medical sources that 23 Iraqis were killed and 78 injured in clashes between members of al-Mahdi army and the American forces escorted by the Iraqi national guards. Al-Mahdi army called on its supporters to fight against the American forces.

The American army announced that it started on Tuesday a large scale operation inside the city under the pretext of fighting what he called the terrorists "to resume rebuilding projects" in the poor area.

The director of al-Sader office in al-Rasafah, Saed al-Maliki, held the Iraqi prime minister Eyad Allawi responsible over what is taking place in the city.

He called on the supreme clergy in al-Najaf to interfere to put an end to the behaviors of what he called the occupation and the interim Iraqi government to halt the bloodshed.

Under the continued escalation between the American forces and al-Sader followers. The higher Shiite clergy Ali al-Seistani said that the raid launched by American forces against the office of leader of the Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sader in al-Najaf are not justified and in contradiction with the peace initiative, on the ground of which al-Najaf crisis ended.