Baghdad, May 26: Three Baghdad slum dwellers were killed when a leftover surface-to-air missile fell off a trailer and blew up and a munitions dump explosion killed a U.S. Soldier in southern Iraq, illustrating the dangers of clearing away the vestiges of violence even as postwar rebuilding efforts proceed. The U.S. Military announced the soldier's death today, saying he and another soldier who was injured had been guarding the dump when the munitions exploded yesterday near the town of Diwaniya, 150 kilometers south of Baghdad. The U.S. Central command said the blast was not thought to be a result of hostile action. The soldiers' names were withheld until their families could be notified. Yesterday, in the Al-Thawra slum area of Baghdad, three people were killed and at least two others injured when the surface-to-air missile left over from Saddam Hussein's regime fell as Iraqi contractors were removing four unexploded Iraqi missiles left over from the war, residents said.
The army has pledged stepped up efforts to remove unexploded munitions that have posed hazards to Iraqi civilians since the war's main fighting ended in April. The munitions have been stored in dumps, and a number of U.S. Servicemen have been killed in ammunition explosions.

Bureau Report