Ten American troops slain in Iraq

New Zealand News.Net
Wednesday 11th October, 2006

Four soldiers and 6 Marines have been killed in various operations in Iraq this week.

The U.S. military said a U.S soldier died from injuries when his patrol struck an improvised explosive device in central Baghdad on Wednesday.

A Multinational Division Baghdad soldier died at about 10:45 a.m. Monday when insurgents attacked his patrol with small-arms fire in eastern Baghdad.

Three Marines assigned to 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, were killed Monday as a result of enemy action while operating in Anbar province.

A Task Force Lightning soldier based out of Fort Bragg, N.C., attached to 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, was killed by an explosion while on a vehicle patrol north of Tikrit on Sunday.

Three Marines assigned to Regimental Combat Team 7 were killed Sunday during enemy action while operating in Anbar province.

Army Pfc. Shane R. Austin, 19, of Edgerton, Kan., was killed Sunday in Ramadi, as a result of enemy grenade fire. Johnson was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 35th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armor Division, Baumholder, Germany.

Elsewhere, bomb attacks and shootings in Iraq claimed at least 14 lives Wednesday.

The violence included three bombings in Baghdad that killed at least four people.

Also, the Iraqi parliament approved a law that would let the country's 18 provinces hold referendums on forming federal regions. Sunni Arabs fear the plan could break up the country, leaving them with resource-poor central and western Iraq.

Meanwhile, the genocide trial of Saddam Hussein resumed, one day after the former Iraqi leader was expelled from the court for disrupting the proceedings.

The court heard testimony Wednesday from three Kurdish witnesses. One witness said Iraqi troops attacked his village during the Anfal campaign of the late 1980s. He said his sister and brother were taken away and never returned.

Saddam accused the court of preventing him from defending himself. The chief judge told Saddam he can talk about legal points, but if he threatens witnesses, his microphone will be cut.

Saddam and his cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid, also known as Chemical Ali, are accused of genocide in the Anfal campaign, which prosecutors say killed more than 180,000 Kurds.

Five other defendants are accused of crimes against humanity. All face the death penalty.

The U.S. military meantime has released the names of several troops killed last week.

They included Army Cpl. Carl W. Johnson II, 21, of Philadelphia, was killed Saturday when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Johnson was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.

Army Cpl. Nicholas A. Arvanitis, 22, of Salem, N.H., was killed Friday in Bayji, when he encountered enemy fire. Arvanitis was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.

Army Staff Sgt. Christopher O. Moudry, 31, of Baltimore; Spc. Timothy R. Burke, 24, of Hollywood, Fla.; Spc. George R. Obourn Jr., 20, of Creve Coeur, Ill.; and Pfc. Dean R. Bright, 32, of Roseburg, Oregon, were killed in Taji, last Wednesday after being attacked by enemy forces using small-arms fire and other weapons. All four soldiers were assigned to the 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

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