U.S. soldier, at least a dozen Iraqis killed in series of attacks

BAGHDAD, Iraq — At least a dozen Iraqis and a U.S. soldier were killed in a series of bombings, shootings and ambushes across Iraq yesterday.

Fighters from the Sunni Muslim-led insurgency staged a string of attacks on Shiite pilgrims in the days leading up to the Ashura festival, which marks the end of a 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and one of Shiites' most important saints.

The blast in Tuz Khormato, 55 miles south of Kirkuk, killed three civilians, including a child, and two soldiers helping guard the shrine, police reported. Sixteen people were wounded, hospital officials said.

On the peak day of the Ashura holiday last year, synchronized suicide bombs set off at crowded Shiite shrines in Baghdad and the holy city of Karbala killed at least 181 people.

A U.S. soldier with Task Force Liberty was killed in action near Hajiwah in central Iraq yesterday afternoon, U.S. officials said. They gave no further details. Iraqi officials said the death was caused by a mine.

The U.S. military also reported two more troop deaths Wednesday. In the first attack, a gunman killed a U.S. soldier on patrol in eastern Baghdad and escaped into a crowd, officials said. Five suspects were detained in the ensuing roundup.

In the other attack, insurgents killed a soldier and wounded five others when they opened fire on a military checkpoint in Mosul, U.S. officials said. Meanwhile, Iraqi television reported yesterday an allegation that a U.S. military helicopter near Qaim opened fire on an Iraqi wedding party, killing the bride.

"Right now, we've checked with operations folks in the area and haven't found any indication that this has happened," said Staff Sgt. Don Dees, a U.S. Army spokesman.

U.S. soldier guilty in fatal shooting

BERLIN — A U.S. court martial convicted an army tank company commander yesterday in the death of an Iraqi in a shooting the soldier had called a mercy killing of a wounded man, U.S. military officials said.

Army Captain Rogelio Maynulet was found guilty at the hearing at a U.S. army base in Wiesbaden, Germany, on a charge of assault with intent to commit voluntary manslaughter and faces up to 10 years in prison.

Maynulet was to be sentenced today, a U.S. army spokesman said.

The incident occurred last May when U.S. troops were pursuing suspected militiamen supporting Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr near the Iraqi city of Najaf, the court was told. U.S. soldiers fired on a car, wounding the driver and a passenger.

Maynulet said he had killed the wounded driver to put him out of his misery.

Also

Al-Zarqawi aide caught: U.S. forces in Iraq are holding a senior operative of terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi who has joint U.S.-Jordanian citizenship, defense officials said yesterday. The man was captured in a raid by U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq late in 2004, said Matthew Waxman, the Pentagon's deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee affairs.

Compiled from The Associated Press, Los Angeles Times and Reuters reports