Baghdad: A suicide bomber blew up a dynamite-laden truck in western Iraq on Saturday, destroying a key bridge on a highway used by the departing US military, while four Iraqi soldiers were killed in a separate attack near Fallujah, police said.
There were no casualties in today`s morning blast that
destroyed the bridge, said a police officer in the city of
Ramadi, about 125 kilometres west of Baghdad. The highway is
used heavily by the US military to transport equipment out of
the country. It is also a major roadway for local civilian
traffic.
The highway links Iraq to neighbouring Syria and
Jordan, where many Iraqis fled sectarian violence.
Also today, an attack on an Iraqi army convoy just
outside of the city of Fallujah killed four Iraqi soldiers and
wounded 14, said a police officer in the city, which is about
65 kilometres west of Baghdad.
A US military spokesman in Iraq`s western Anbar
province, where both Ramadi and Fallujah are located,
confirmed the destruction of the highway bridge outside
Ramadi.
Lt Col Curtis L Hill said US forces have "previously
used the bridge", but he would not say what impact the
destruction of the bridge might have on US military convoys
transporting equipment out of Iraq to meet President Barack
Obama`s deadline for a complete pullout of combat troops by
August 2010.
Bureau Report
