More Attacks in Iraq, Bodies of Killed Bulgarian, Thai Soldiers Return

30/12/2003| IslamWeb

One Iraqi was killed and three others wounded when a roadside bomb hit a US convoy in Baghdad as the bodies of five Bulgarian and two Thai soldiers slain in attacks in Iraq arrived home. War-ravaged Iraq was struck with more deadly violence -- which has surged since the capture of Saddam Hussein December 13 which claimed another Iraqi life during an anti-coalition attack. "One Iraqi was killed and (another) was hit in the neck ... He will probably die," Private Matthew Andersen said of the casualties sustained Tuesday morning when a bomb hit a US convoy in the capital's Karrada district. An Iraqi translator with the US soldiers was hurt, Andersen said while another military spokesman said a third Iraqi was also hurt. On Sunday, a bomb exploded in Karrada killing two Iraqi children and a US soldier and injured five other troops, eight Iraqi security men and an Iraqi interpreter. And as Iraqis mourned their losses in the insurgent operations consuming Iraq since the fall of Saddam's regime in April, Bulgaria and Thailand grieved for their dead. The bodies of five Bulgarian soldiers killed in multiple attacks in Karbala, south of Baghdad, on Saturday arrived in Sofia Tuesday to be buried in different corners of their country. Flags flew at half-mast in Sofia where Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Cobourg and President Georgy Parvanov attended a ceremony at the army headquarters in the capital to honour the men on a day of national mourning. In Bangkok, the bodies of two Thai soldiers killed in the Karbala attacks also returned home where they were given a solemn guard of honour. Dozens of Thai troops formed the guard at Bangkok's air force base as the flag-draped coffins containing the bodies of sergeant-majors Amporn Chulert and Mitr Klaharn were taken off a plane. Defence Minister Thammarak Issarangkun Na Ayutthaya led a simple ceremony which included the presentation of wreaths from Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, deputy prime minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh and military leaders. The bodies of the two men were then sent to their home towns. Coalition forces said they detained five men in connection with the assault, which also killed 12 Iraqis and wounded nearly 200 people, the vast majority of them Iraqi. Iraq was bracing for more insurgent attacks over the 'New Year'. More than 11,000 officers have been deployed, he said. Soldiers from the US First Armoured Division said they were also on guard against fresh attacks over the holiday. "Yes, today we're ramping it up ... We're upping our security," Sergeant Terry Price said. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Bulgaria's President Georgi Parvanov bows down to a coffin of one of the five Bulgarian soldiers killed in Iraq at Sofia airport Tuesday morning, Dec. 30, 2003. (AP Photo/Dimitar Deinov)