European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 7, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 stars and stripes saturday april 7 2007 chlorine truck bomber kills 27 in Anbar by Bassem Mroue the associated press suicide bomber driving a truck loaded with int and toxic chlorine Gas crashed into a police checkpoint in Western ramada on Friday kill ing at least 27 people and wound ing dozens police in the Anbar provincial capital said in the deep South of the coun try the Basra police commander said the Type of Roadside bomb used in an attack that killed four British soldiers on thursday had not been seen in the Region previously maj Gen Mohammed Almous Sawis description of the deadly weapon indicated it was a feared iranian designed sively formed pen Trator two More of the bombs were discovered planted along routes heavily travelled by us and Brit ish diplomats in Basra weeks ear Lier the american military had claimed Iran was supplying Shi Ite militia fighters in Iraq with the powerful weapons known As Fps they hurl a molten fist sized Copper slug capable of piercing armoured vehicles the bombing in Anbar prov Ince marked the ninth use of Sui cide chlorine bombs in the sprawl ing mainly desert territory mat has been a stronghold of the sunni insurgency recently however Many Anbar tribes have switched Alle Giance with Large numbers of Mil itary age men joining the police Force and iraqi army in a bid to expel Al Aida in Iraq fighters suicide bombings Are an Al Aida trademark a father holds his daughter inside a Hospital in Kirkuk Iraq on Friday the girl was wounded when a Roadside bomb struck the family car some bystanders had trouble breathing after fridays chlorine attack and were taken to a nearby Hospital for treatment said police maj Zubair Rashid a Nayef oth ers with More serious injuries were taken to a us base in the area and then flown by helicopter to a larger Hospital North of Baghdad a Nayef said police maj Mohammed Mah Moud Al Pattah member of the Anbar salvation Council told state run iraqi a television the bomber hit a residential Complex and dozens of wounded were taken to the ramada Hospital police opened fire As the Sui cide car bomber sped toward a checkpoint three Miles West of the City according to police col Tariq Aldulaimii nearby build Ings were heavily damaged and police were searching the rubble for More victims also thursday the us Mili tary confirmed an american Heli copter carrying nine people had been downed South of Baghdad and that four were injured an iraqi army official speak ing on condition of anonymity be cause of Security concerns said the helicopter crashed after com ing under fire near the sunni in surgent stronghold of Latif Yah about 20 Miles South of Baghdad the us military did not confirm that account the four British soldiers including two women were killed thursday As the american military announced the deaths of nine More us soldiers since tuesday the Basra Region police com Mander Almous Sawi said two similar bombs had been discovered Friday morning one was Dis covered on the Road leading to Basra Palace the compound that houses a British base and the Brit ish and us consulates a second was uncovered in the Western Hay Aniyah District where thurs Days attack occurred the reported deaths of the american forces and the bomb at tack on the British unit marked the Start of the eighth week of the joint us iraqi Security crack Down in Baghdad and surround ing territory the us military re colonel troops finding fewer Roadside bombs by Lisa Burgess stars and stripes Arlington a thanks to the Bagh dad Security plan us troops working in the cites vast Northern sector Are dealing with 40 percent fewer Roadside bombs these Days their commander army col Paul Funk said Friday i used to see somewhere in the neighbor Hood of 120 improvised explosives a month he said now in Down to less than 65 to 70 Funk who leads the 1st brigade 1st cavalry division spoke with Pentagon reporters in a Remote briefing from his Headquarters at Camp Taji Iraq he said that the drop has occurred since the 3800 soldiers of the Iron horse brigade combat team deployed to Taji from fort food Texas in november 2006 to Date the brigade has found a total of 330 Roadside bombs since formally taking Over the sector in the Early part of december Funk said Funk said that he believes the reason that his troops Are encountering fewer bombs is be cause the enemy Doest have time to do As thorough a reconnaissance As they used to when they put them in Overall Funk said Security in our operating environment is assessed As moderate to holding steady we Are seeing that the enemy based on Baghdad Security plan operations in the City has to Start moving around Funk said and As they move around were being much More successful in capturing or killing them but that there Are still continuing issues with insurgents moving weapons and person Nel through his sector the area the Iron horse brigade is responsible for patrolling in Northern Baghdad is 900 Square Miles and has a population of nearly 2 million the majority of whom Are sunni according to Funk in addition to a decrease in Roadside bombs against coalition troops iraqi civilian Mur Ders have also dropped he said i probably averaged when we first got Here As Many As eight extrajudicial killing a month Funk said now were Down to one or two a month Funk said that he thinks the reason Mur Ders Are Down is directly related to getting out with the population living with them and communicating with them every Day email Lisa Burgess at ported saturday that one Ameri can Soldier was killed and a Sec Ond wounded in shooting in Kirkuk province one us Soldier died and two were wounded in a Roadside bombing thursday in restive Day Ala province North of Baghdad the military said four others died wednesday in two Roadside bomb explosions in Southern Baghdad and North of the capital while a fifth was killed by Small arms fire in the Eastern part of the City two other sol Diers were killed by Small arms fire on tuesday one in Eastern Baghdad and another on foot patrol in the Southern outskirts of the capital us deaths in Iraq the associated press As of thursday at least 3266 members of me us Mali tary have died since the begin Ning of the Iraq War in March 2003 according to an associated press count the figure includes seven Flitar civilians at least 2633 died As a result of hostile action according to the military numbers the a count i seven High Perihan the defense depart ments tally last updated thursday at 10 am Edt the British military has re ported 14g deaths Italy 33 Ukraine 18 Poland 19 bul Garia 13 Spain 11 Denmark Salvador five Slovakia four Latvia three Estonia Netherlands Thailand two each and Australia Hungary Kazakhstan Romania one death each the latest deaths reported by the military a Soldier was wiled wednesday by Small arms fire in Eastern Baghdad two soldiers were killed wednesday by an explosive North of Baghdad two soldiers were killed wednesday by an explosive in Southern Baghdad a Soldier was killed thurs Day by an explosive in Dyala province the latest identifications re ported by me military no identifications reported us iraqi forces sweep into troubled shiite City before Dawn by Bushra Jum the associated press Baghdad iraqi forces backed by american soldiers swept into a troubled predominantly shiite City South of Bagh dad before Dawn Friday and the us military said As Many As six militia fighters had been killed it col Scott Bleichwehl a us military spokesman said be tween three and six militia fight ers had been killed eight were wounded and five detained there were no reports of civilian casualties in the assault on Diwan Yah codenamed operation Black Eagle he said residents reported heavy fight ing Between the us and iraqi forces and gunmen of the Mahdi army militia or Hameed Jahafi the director of Diw Aniyah health directorate said an american helicopter fire on a House in the Askari neighbor Hood seriously wounding 12 peo ple at the Start of the Early morn ing assault initial us military accounts of the fighting did not in clude airstrikes a top spokesman for Radical shiite cleric Muntada a Sadr de Nied that Mahdi army militiamen were involved in the clashes there is no Exchange of fire there is Only an unprovoked at tack by invading american troops the aim is to weaken a protest called for by Sheik Muntada on monday Haider a Natiq spokesman of the Baghdad Bureau of Alsa drs political move ment said in an interview with Ala Rabiya television a Sadr has called for a Mas Sive demonstration in the shiite holy City of Najaf on monday the fourth anniversary of Baghdad capture by us forces the powerful cleric who reportedly ordered his militia to Dis Arm and stay off the streets Dur ing the Baghdad Security crack Down now in its eight week has nevertheless issued a series of Sharp ant american statements demanding the immediate withdrawal of us troops