Soldier killed in ambush north of Baghdad

Tuesday, July 22, 2003

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP)

A U.S. soldier was killed and another wounded Tuesday in an ambush along a dangerous road north of Baghdad in the "Sunni Triangle," the U.S. military reported.

The soldier's death brought to 153 the number of U.S. troops killed in action since the March 20 start of war --six more than during the 1991 Gulf War.

Central Command in Tampa, Fla., said the attackers used rocket-propelled grenades and small arms in the assault staged along the road between Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad, and Ramadi, 60 miles west of the capital.

Both towns lie within the "Sunni Triangle," so named because it is home to much of the remaining support for ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, a Sunni Muslim who used his Baathist Party to oppress the country's Shiite Muslim majority.

The military had no other details on the attack, many of which lately have been staged with remote-controlled roadside explosions.