Two American soldiers killed, two churches bombarded in Musil

The American forces in Iraq said that one of its soldiers was killed on Tuesday in an attack that targeted a military procession in Baghdad.

The American forces also admitted that one of its Marine soldiers was killed in a traffic accident in al-Anbar governorate. In Sameraa clashes took place between gunmen and American soldiers when gunmen attacked by missile shelling an American checkpoint to the north of the city.

In a town to the south of Sameraa, a US miltary vehicle was destroyed targeted while carrying out inspection works in the region.

In another development, the American army said that the first of its members subjected to investigations in committing a killing crime in Iraq will be brought before a military court. The American Maj. Rojelio Minolit is facing the accusation of killing one car driver who was injured as American soldiers opened fire on him as they were chasing several persons suspected to be members of al-Mahdi army, that belongs to the Shiite leader Muqtada al- Sader in May.

With the continued confrontation with the American forces, attacks continue at the Iraqi religious sites and police centers. Unidentified persons bombarded the Kildan and Roman- Orthodox churches in the downtown of al-Musil city after they were evacuated from their occupants. The explosion resulted in no casualties. The executors of the attack prevented firemen trucks from entering the areas of the two churches.

These attacks raised the reaction of Christian political figures who considered the attacks as an attempt to implement sectarianism. Emanuel Khourshada Yuhanna of the Assure national party said that those who attack the churches are the same who "slaughter the Shiite because of their identity, and booby trap cars" expressing his fears that these acts will result in increasing immigration of Christians from Iraq.

In al-Ramadi to the west of Baghdad, armed men implanted an ambush for the Iraqi police and confiscated their weapons and burnt their cars. However, they released the officers. Repeated attacks were launched against the Iraqi police and national guards during the recent months in the context of a coordinated strategy to undermine the security forces before the fall of the elections by the end of January 2005.