IEDs Kill Three U.S. Troops, Raids Net Bomb-making Cell

WASHINGTON, June 25, 2006 – Three American soldiers were killed by improvised explosive devices while on patrol in Iraq in recent days, officials in Iraq said today. Separate IED explosions in Baghdad and Tikrit June 24 each claimed the life of one U.S. soldier. A roadside bomb explosion in Baghdad on June 23 killed another U.S. soldier.

Another U.S. soldier in Baghdad died of a non-combat incident June 23. Names of the deceased are being withheld until their families are notified. Coalition forces in Iraq are continuing operations to thwart enemy IED attacks, officials said. Iraqi forces captured three members of an IED construction cell during a June 23 raid in western Baghdad.

The captured cell members are believed to have conducted two IED attacks on coalition forces in the Baghdad area in March, and an April rocket attack on Baghdad International Airport. Five other suspected insurgents were caught up in the dragnet. No Iraqi or coalition forces were harmed during the operation.