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Navy seabee killed blast Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
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Blast kills U.S. Navy Seabee in Iraq
NBC, MSNBC and news services
1 injured in explosion; Firefight near Baghdad
BAGHDAD, Iraq, June 6 — A U.S. Navy Seabee was killed and another injured in an explosion close to a barracks in al Kut on Friday, military officials told NBC News. Meanwhile, unidentified assailants fired rocket-propelled grenades and small arms at a U.S. patrol near an air base west of Baghdad on Friday, military sources said.
THE OFFICIALS TOLD NBC News that the explosion near al Kut occurred at about 9 a.m. (1 a.m. ET). The cause of the explosion was under investigation. No further details were immediately available.
Meanwhile, attackers fired on an M1A1 Abrams tank and a military police Humvee. The tank wasn't damaged, but the Humvee had numerous bullet holes in it, according to field reports. Soldiers returned fire, but there were no reports of casualties on either side.
The firefight in the town of Khaldiya, 45 miles west of Baghdad, is the latest in a series of hit-and-run attacks by gunmen on U.S. forces in central Iraq. Several dozen soldiers have been killed or injured.
Elsewhere, U.S. military sources said that two soldiers guarding a bank in downtown Baghdad were wounded Thursday when two men with pistols opened fire at them. The sentries returned fire and killed one of the attackers, while the other managed to flee, said a statement released by the U.S. Central Command.
It said that in a separate incident in the capital, a soldier injured four civilians when he accidentally fired his machine gun as he was picking it up. The victims, who were struck in the legs, were evacuated. The statement said their injuries were not life-threatening.
' BLOOD EVERYWHERE'
On Thursday, an American soldier was killed and five were wounded when they were hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, the U.S. military said. Soldiers sealed the area and started house-to-house searches for the attackers.
One resident said the attack, at an American checkpoint in front of a police station, left "blood everywhere."
The attack took place as the United States sent more than 3,000 soldiers from the 2nd Brigade and dozens of tanks to the Sunni Muslim town to contain attacks on its forces.
A U.S. military spokesman said two American soldiers had also been wounded in Baghdad when two attackers fired on them as they were guarding a bank. No details were available.
There are now an estimated 6,000 U.S. soldiers in and around Fallujah, including more than 4,000 from the 2nd Brigade.
The Army soldiers who came under fire were assigned to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, the military said in a statement. That regiment has been based in the area for weeks.
The wounded soldiers were evacuated to a nearby military field hospital. Their identities weren't immediately released. Soldiers guarding the scene would not discuss what happened.
The attacker was an "unknown assailant," the military statement said. It did not say if any Iraqis were killed or wounded in the ensuing battle.
Fallujah has been a flashpoint of resistance to American occupation, and U.S. forces have come under increasing attack in the area, about 30 miles west of Baghdad. Senior military commanders acknowledge the resistance but say they believe it is not coordinated.
NBC News' Carl Rochelle and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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