Car bomb explodes near US convoy in Baghdad

11.30am

BAGHDAD - A car bomb exploded near a US convoy on a Baghdad highway Friday, but it was not clear if there were any American casualties, Iraqi police said.

"A man got out of his car and left in another one. Then the car exploded when an American convoy passed by," policeman Amjad Mohammed told Reuters at the scene.

"There were no Iraqi civilian casualties, but we don't know if any Americans were hurt."

US military vehicles sealed off the six-lane highway cutting through the Saydiya residential district in western Baghdad. The US military had no immediate comment.

Iraqi witness Abu Ahmed said he had noticed a man spending a long time apparently trying to repair a gray Mercedes at the roadside before being picked up by another man in an Opel saloon. "A few minutes later, there was an explosion," he said.

Insurgents frequently target US convoys with roadside bombs, car bombs, land mines or rocket-propelled grenades.

The US military said Friday an American soldier had died of wounds sustained in an attack in eastern Baghdad on Wednesday. That raised the US combat death toll in Iraq to 606 since the start of last year's invasion.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq