Attacks continued against the occupation forces in Iraq
During the past 24 hours, attacks continued targeting the occupation forces in Iraq, with the last of which baing an attack against a position for the American forces in Karkouk to the north of Iraq by two mortar shells.
An Iraqi security source in the city said that the attack did not result in any casualties and the attackers were able to escape.
A similar attack took place yesterday morning against the Bulgarian forces positioned in Kerbala city, 100 Km to the south west of Baghdad, no casualties were reported.
A military spokesman for the multinational contingent led by Poland said that "two mortar shells were fired yesterday at the camp of the contingent and one of them fell outside the camp and the second on its fence," noting that the attackers fled in a car from which they opened fire at the general headquarters of the Bulgarian soldiers. Local police said the soldiers blocked streets of the city to find the attackers.
In Sameraa, news reports said that a camp for the US forces was exposed to an attack by mortars yesterday at dawn in the city and the American helicopters flew in the area following the incident.
In another incident, witnesses said that an American patrol was exposed to an attack in al-Mutawakkil quarters in Sameraa. They stressed that the attack targeted two armored vehicles and the US forces broke into several houses in search of the attackers.
In Baqouba, south east of Baghdad, witnesses said that the US forces detained several persons in the city where they found ammunition dumped in a farm.
Earlier in the day, the Iraqi police announced the killing of two former Iraqi soldiers by the American forces in Karkouk.
Army officer Othman Awad Muhammad said that "Ahmad Abdul Sattar (21 year old) and Raed Kamal Mahdi ( 25 year old) were killed when they were waiting with other soldiers a rented car to take them to their home after they failed to receive their salaries. The American soldiers opened fire in the air towards the group, on the belief that they were a group of demonstrators. He added that other 8 persons were injured.
Some 150 former soldiers in Baghdad demonstrated yesterday without clashes. However confrontations erupted between former Iraqi soldiers and the occupation forces in several areas by the beginning of the week at compensation payment centers where hundreds of former soldiers line up to receive 40 dollar payments for each soldier.
Iraqi officials said that two former soldiers were killed in acts of protest in Baghdad on Sunday and another Iraqi was killed in al-Basra by the American forces during a similar demonstration.