A bomb exploded under a U.S. military vehicle west of Baghdad on Wednesday, killing five soldiers, the military said. At least four people, including one American and possibly other foreign nationals, were killed in a separate attack. Crowds burned and mutilated their bodies. The explosive device that killed the American soldiers blew up when their vehicle ran over it, U.S. army Col. Jill Morgenthaler said in Baghdad. The attack occurred in Anbar province, which encompasses Fallujah, Ramadi and other towns where anti-U.S. insurgents are active. Residents said the bomb attack occurred in Malahma, 19 kilometres northwest of Fallujah.
In an unrelated attack Wednesday, gunmen in Fallujah attacked two civilian cars that residents said were carrying foreign nationals. The occupants of the cars were killed and their vehicles were set on fire. Witnesses saw at least four bodies. Footage from Associated Press Television News showed a charred body of one of the slain men, and the targeted vehicles in flames nearby. Some of the slain men were wearing flak jackets, said Safa Mohammedi, a resident. Although nationalities were not immediately known, APTN footage showed one American passport near a body. Last Sunday, a Canadian security expert was killed in northern Iraq in an ambush by masked gunmen. Andy Bradsell, 33, of Victoria, a former British marine, died when a convoy he was escorting was attacked.
After the Fallujah attack Wednesday, angry crowds dragged the bodies through the streets, dismembered them and hanged some of the mutilated corpses, said resident Abdul Aziz Mohammed. One man beat a corpse with a metal pole. Residents tied a cord to another body, tied it to a car and drove it down a street. "The people of Fallujah hanged some of the bodies on the old bridge like slaughtered sheep," Mohammed said. "I saw it myself."
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The identities of the slain men were unclear. One resident displayed what appeared to be dog tags taken from one body. Residents also said there were weapons in the targeted cars. |