Six killed in ambush on U.S. military vehicle
Sheraton Hotel struck in Baghdad
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Six Iraqis were killed in an ambush Wednesday on a U.S. military vehicle in the central Iraqi city of Fallujah, American military sources said.
Five other Iraqis and two U.S. Marines were wounded when the roadside bomb detonated early Wednesday, destroying the Marines' vehicle, military sources said. Insurgents then fired upon the Americans and Iraqis, the sources said.
The injured Iraqis, including five who were seriously wounded, were treated at Fallujah Hospital, said Dr. Adnan Cheechan, a physician at the hospital. The Marines' condition was not immediately available.
The Iraqis killed were with the U.S. Marines rather than insurgents taking part in the attack.
Fallujah, west of Baghdad, is part of the "Sunni Triangle," the restive region of anti-U.S. sentiment north and west of the Iraqi capital.
Also Wednesday, attackers fired what appeared to be a rocket or mortar at Baghdad's Sheraton Hotel, eyewitness said. No casualties were reported.
Journalists and contractors are frequent guests at the hotel, which was hit in a rocket strike in November.
The attack before dawn left about a 5- by 5-foot hole in the east side of the hotel. Video from the scene showed large, broken slabs of concrete on the ground.
Concrete barriers surround the Sheraton, making it a tougher target for the type of car bomb used in the March 17 attack on Baghdad's Mount Lebanon Hotel. That blast killed seven people and blew off the building's facade.
Wednesday's attacks come 100 days before the U.S.-led coalition transfers political control of the country to Iraqis and Iraq regains sovereignty July 1.
Meanwhile, the 1st Armored Division said Wednesday its soldiers captured 12 people this week suspected of planning attacks on coalition forces.
Soldiers also confiscated three AK-47s, 19 rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 50 blasting caps and four pistols as part of Operation Iron Promise, a week-old attempt to arrest insurgents and confiscate their weapons.
Other developments
In a speech Wednesday to U.S. and Iraqi dignitaries in Baghdad, L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. civilian administrator, said Iraq is a better place a year after Saddam Hussein's fall and boasted of achievements in several areas, including health-care improvements, school rehabilitation and moves toward democracy. In comments marking the start of countdown to the country's sovereignty, Bremer said, "Much remains to be done in the next 100 days, but today we should take heart at what already has been accomplished."An Iraqi child was killed and six people injured, including four U.S. soldiers, in separate vehicle accidents Tuesday, U.S. Central Command said. The child died at the scene after a vehicle in a U.S. military convoy struck her east of Balad, north of Baghdad. North of Balad in Tikrit, four 1st Infantry Division soldiers and two Iraqi civilians were injured in a morning accident involving two military vehicles. The soldiers are in stable condition at a combat support hospital. The condition of the Iraqis was not available. Two Iraqi civilians were killed and six others wounded Tuesday in a mortar attack on an Iraqi Civil Defense Corps training area in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, the U.S. military said. Also in the Mosul region, a U.S. soldier from the Stryker Brigade Combat Team died from a noncombat-related shooting Monday, the Army said.An Iraqi working for Time magazine was shot and wounded Wednesday morning in Baghdad, the magazine said. The employee, whose name was not released, is in critical condition at a U.S. military hospital in Baghdad, the magazine said. Time is a unit of Time Warner, as is CNN.U.S. officials said they have released more than 270 prisoners from the Baghdad Correctional Facility because they are no longer considered a threat to security. The U.S.-led coalition has imprisoned about 1,400 civilians because of suspected criminal activity. Some 8,000 civilians are in the prison because the coalition deems them a threat to security forces.CNN's Kevin Flower, Sue Kroll, Kianne Sadeq and Auday Sadik contributed to this report.
Copyright 2004 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
