US Military Convoy Hit in Mosul
A pickup truck sped up beside the US convoy and exploded in Mosul’s southern Yarmuk district at 0800 GMT (11am) on Monday, said Iraqi police First Lieutenant Jar Allah Muhammad Said.
The blast rattled the city and blew a deep crater in the road, he said.
Witnesses said they saw body parts scattered in the street after the blast, which occurred in southern Mosul on the main highway leading into the city from the south.
No casualty figures were immediately available, but witnesses said civilians and soldiers had been hit.
US soldiers opened fire after the attack.
Mosul sees frequent attacks on US and Iraqi security forces, along with civilians and political officials.
US troops killed
In southern Baghdad, two US soldiers were killed and five wounded in a rocket attack on Monday at 0500 GMT (8am), a US military statement said.
No further details were provided.
More than 1000 members of the US military have died since American-led forces invaded Iraq in March 2003.
More South Koreans
Meanwhile, a South Korean air transport contingent is headed for Kuwait to support the Asian country’s troops, deployed in a Kurdish province of northern Iraq, Seoul’s defence ministry said on Monday.
The 150-member contingent along with four C-130H planes left a military airport south of Seoul for a US air base in Kuwait where it will be stationed from Tuesday, the ministry said.
The air force unit is to airlift supplies and personnel for South Korean soldiers stationed in Iraq, it said.
South Korea deployed about 2800 troops for a relief and rehabilitation mission to Arbil, a Kurdish-controlled town in northern Iraq, last month.
They will be reinforced by another 800 soldiers in November.
The South Korean contingent is the third largest of the US-led forces in Iraq.
