One U.S. Soldier Killed, Six Wounded in Iraq

One U.S. Soldier Killed, Six Wounded in Iraq
Unidentified attackers fired rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns at U.S. soldiers in Baghdad, killing at least one and wounding six others, the U.S. military said. The attack came the day after the launch of US-picked Iraqi Governing Council. A convoy of military vehicles was attacked in the central al-Mansour area of Baghdad at around 6:00 a.m., a military spokesman said. Casualties were taken to a military hospital. Dozens of U.S. troops searched the area as helicopters hovered above. Soldiers searching an abandoned house in the area found a light machinegun probably used in the attack. At least thirty-two occupation soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Bush declared major combat over on May 1. **Anti-Occupation Group in Iraq Claims Al Qaeda Link*** A group claiming links to the Al-Qaeda network has released a tape saying it, not Saddam Hussein loyalists, was behind attacks on U.S. forces, but offered no evidence to back up the claims. "I swear by God no one from his (Saddam Hussein's) followers carried out any jihad operations as he claims...they are a result of our brothers in jihad," said an unidentified voice on a video tape aired by Dubai-based Al Arabiya television Sunday night. The tape bore none of the hallmarks of bin Laden and Al-Qaeda messages previously aired on Arab channels. The voice on the tape, which sounded slowed down for disguise, warned of an attack in the days to come that would "break the back of America completely." The only image on the tape was a still of an unidentified white-bearded man in a turban. A spokesman told Reuters the channel had received an anonymous call asking it to collect the tape from a location in Baghdad. The voice said the "Armed Islamic Movement for Al-Qaeda, the Falluja Branch," a previously unheard-of name, was behind the attacks and that its members were dispersed all over Iraq. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Injured Iraqi vendor Sala Ajil in Bagdhad, Monday, July 14, 2003, (AP Photo/John Moore)

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