3 U.S. Soldiers Killed In Fresh Iraq Attacks

In a separate attack in Mahmudiyah, south of the capital, two soldiers were killed when they were ambushed with small arms fire at around 6:30 pm (1430 GMT) on Wednesday, Sergeant Patrick Compton said. He did not elaborate.

Residents in the flashpoint town of Fallujah also said that U.S. positions had come under attack with RPGs and mortars overnight, again without reports of any casualties.

The U.S. military said it was unaware of any incidents in the town, around 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Baghdad.

The killings came few hours after U.S. forces in Iraq came under four mortar or grenade attacks overnight, but there was no immediate reports of casualties, according to the U.S. military.

A U.S. military spokesman said troops came under rocket-propelled grenade attack in Tikrit north of Baghdad, while three separate mortar attacks hit Ramadi, west of the capital.

Protests

In the flashpoint town of Fallujah midway between Baghdad and Ramadi, former police and army officers protested outside the local government building to demand U.S. troops leave the town immediately, after three separate attacks overnight, residents said. There were no reports of casualties.

They gathered outside the main U.S. military compound to vent their frustration against occupying troops in this flashpoint town 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, an AFP correspondent said.

"We, the officers and police in Fallujah, can protect our town and the U.S. must leave immediately," one banner read.

U.S. soldiers leveled guns at demonstrators in the standoff, hours after U.S. forces came under attack in three separate pre-dawn incidents.

Fallujah, a Sunni Muslim stronghold, has been the scene of repeated attacks on the 4,000 U.S. troops deployed there since they shot dead at least 16 protesters in late April.

Mortars also hit a logistics base near Balad, north of Baghdad, damaging a vehicle, but without causing any casualties, the spokesman added, in the latest of what seems to be a continuous string of attacks on U.S. troops.

The attacks against occupation forces has become to be of daily occurrence, as anti-American sentiments are on the rise among local inhabitants demanding an end to occupation and a quick setup of a national representative government.

A total of 74 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq in the 71 days since U.S. President George W. Bush declared an end to major hostilities, 29 of whom were killed in combat operations, according to a Defense Department official.

The Pentagon, meanwhile, said 1,044 American servicemen and women have been wounded in action or injured since the invasion of Iraq began March 20.

Of that total, 382 have been wounded since Bush’s declaration, according to the Pentagon’s figures.