2 US SOLDIERS INJURED WHEN BLAST HITS US CONVOY IN IRAQ

Blasts hit US military, government convoys in Iraq

KIM GAMEL – 11 hours ago
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BAGHDAD (AP) — Two bombs struck separate U.S. military and Iraqi governmental convoys in
Baghdad on Tuesday, killing five Iraqi civilians and wounding two American soldiers, the U.S. military said.

The attacks were the latest reminder of the daily violence that continues to face Iraqis and Americans even as the U.S. military prepares to withdraw from the country over the next three years.

A car bomb targeted a U.S. convoy shortly after 3 p.m. in a northwestern area of Baghdad called Mansour, killing three Iraqi civilians and wounding the two U.S. soldiers, the U.S. military said. It added that initial intelligence indicated al-Qaida in Iraq was to blame.

Also Tuesday, a senior Iraqi education official escaped an assassination attempt while traveling through central Baghdad, according to a government statement. The attempt came less than a week after the Minister of Higher Education escaped injury when a roadside bomb exploded near his convoy in the same district.

The ministry's undersecretary, Ammar Aziz Mohammed Ali, was not hurt when a roadside bomb hit his convoy midmorning Tuesday, according to the statement.

The U.S. military said two Iraqi civilians, a woman and a child, were killed and three others were wounded in the attack.

Attacks on civilians and US troops are expected to be stepped as Iraq approaches the provincial elections on Jan 31.