Three Americans killed; Hashemi escapes critical health condition
The number of US soldiers killed in Iraq during the past 24 hours increased to 3. The American occupation forces said that a killed soldier fell in an attack by bomb on an armored vehicle in al-Ramadi city to the west of Baghdad yesterday ( Sunday), noting that the soldier died as he was admitted to a field military hospital.
The announcement on killing the soldier came following a statement by the US forces in which they admitted the killing of two American soldiers and wounding of other 13 in an attack at Abu Gharib prison which is run by the occupation forces to the west of Baghdad on late Saturday evening.
The prison which accommodates 500 prisoners was exposed to a similar attack in August and resulted in killing five Iraqi prisoners and wounding other 67. An American military spokeswoman stressed that none of the prisoners was killed in the attack in which mortars were used.
In Tikrit, the occupation forces yesterday at dawn launched a series of breaking in operations into houses of persons suspected to be associates of the toppled Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The operations targeted searching for armed men and weapons shelters used in the daily attacks against its soldiers in Tikrit and its surrounding area.
In Baqouba, the Iraqi police arrested persons who entered Iraq illegally through the Iranian borders and confiscated light weapons and false banknotes found in certain cars. This operation comes in the course of a large scale inspection operation to control the deteriorated security condition.
Menatime, Intiqad Qanbar, the spokesman for the Interim Governing Council rotating president in Iraq, Ahmed Chalabi, said that Aqila Hashemi, member of the governing council who was targeted on Saturday in a failed assassination attempt had overcome the critical health condition.
However, the spokesman for the US Department Of State in Iraq, Nabil Khouri, stressed that the health condition of Hashem is still critical, noting that a decision has not been taken yet to transport her outside Iraq for medical treatment. Hashemi underwent a second surgery at an American hospital in Baghdad following the first one which was held in alYarmouk hospital.
On the other hand, spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry Hamid Rida Asifi condemned the attack against Aqila Hashemi considering that it a new evidence of the "American inability to ensure security. "
