Six American soldiers, five Iraqis killed, one American hostage escapes

Six American soldiers were killed in three separate attacks in Baghdad, al-Amara and Karkouk, while a similar member of Iraqis were killed in al- Amara and al-Sader city.

One American military spokesman said that two soldiers were killed when armed men attacked a vehicle by using light weapons and anti - tank RPG shelling in al-Amara city to the south of Iraq on Saturday evening, while American military sources said that two other American soldiers were killed in an attack to the north west of Baghdad yesterday morning.

The spokesman said that one American soldier and two members of the Iraqi civil defense force were injured in the attack which also resulted in breaking a military vehicle.

The fifth soldier was killed in Karkouk in an attack by explosives near the city's airport which is taken by the American occupation forces as a headquarters.

On the other hand, two Iraqis were killed in al-Sader city to the east of Baghdad in clashes between the supporters of the Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sader and the American occupation forces.

News reports in Baghdad said that the clashes took place following the blowing up of three explosives targeted American patrols in various parts of the city and this resulted in breaking three American vehicles.

Meantime, news reports in al-Najaf said quoting the office of the director of "Martyr al-Sader" as saying that the occupation forces detained Adnan al- Oneibi, one of the key aides of al-Sader in al-Hella city. In al-Amara, three Iraqis were killed and other 8 wounded while the British forces admitted the wounding of 6 of its soldiers at least as well as one Iraqi police man, in clashes that erupted between the occupation forces and al-Mahdi army of the Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sader.

In al-Najaf, the headquarters of the joint occupation forces was exposed yesterday at dawn to a violent attack by shelling retaliated by the American forces.

Meanwhile, the American forces found in Southern Tikrit, one American hostage, an Iraqi group kidnapped to the west of Baghdad on April 9th.

The deputy commander of the occupation forces in Iraq Gen. Mark Kemet told reporters that Thomas Hamel, the employee in Kellogg company, Brown and Root which works in serving the occupation army came out of a building and introduced himself to the American soldiers. he added " it seemed he had fled from his kidnappers."