Car Bombs Kill Five U.S. Troops in Iraq

By ROBERT H. REID
Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Car bombs killed five U.S. troops in Iraq, the U.S. military said Saturday, the latest in a string of such attacks at the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Blasts also targeted five churches in the Iraqi capital.

Later on Saturday, a group identifying itself as the Islamic Brigade in Mosul claimed to have kidnapped two Turkish drivers on a highway near Mosul, the group said in a videotape it released. One of the kidnappers said the Turkish government must order the company where the two men worked to leave Iraq or they will be killed.

The two car bombs that killed the U.S. soldiers went off Friday, the military said. One, carried out by a suicide bomber driving an explosive-laden vehicle, targeted a U.S. patrol near the town of Qaim, an insurgent hotspot near the border with Syria, killing four U.S. troops, according to Lt. Col. Chris Woodbridge, commander of the 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment.

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