Three U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq

Sun 23 November, 2003

MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - Two U.S. soldiers have been killed while their car was stopped in traffic in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. Their bodies were looted by residents angered by U.S. raids in the area, witnesses say. A roadside bomb killed another soldier north of Baghdad.

A spokesman for the 101st Airborne Division said the two soldiers in Mosul were shot in the middle of the day as they travelled from one military compound to another on Sunday. But several Iraqi witnesses said the soldiers were stabbed and had their throats slit before their attackers tried to set fire to their vehicle, a civilian four-wheel-drive. Witnesses said locals stole items from the dead men's pockets, and one Iraqi was seen brandishing bloodstained Iraqi dinars he said were taken from the bodies.

"People were taking things from the car. I looked inside and saw two soldiers with blood all over them," said a local fireman who ran to the scene after hearing gunshots.

U.S. troops quickly surrounded the area, in the crowded centre of the city, and interrogated bystanders.

"They hate the Americans in this area," said a man waiting for petrol near the scene. "They've been doing many raids around here and so it's not surprising they've been attacked."

In Baquba, 40 miles north of Baghdad, a 4th Infantry Division soldier was killed and two were wounded when a roadside bomb was detonated as their convoy drove past, spokesman Lieutenant Colonel William MacDonald said.