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Soldiers killed in checkpoint car blast

Ap
Friday 04 April 2003 00:00 BST
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A car exploded near coalition checkpoint in Iraq, killing three coalition soldiers, a pregnant woman and the car's driver, US Central Command said today.

A Central Command spokesman said it appeared to have been a suicide attack and that the incident occurred yesterday evening about 11 miles south-west of the Haditha Dam, when a civilian vehicle approached a coalition checkpoint. The dam is northwest of Baghdad, about 80 miles from the Iraq-Syria border.

"A pregnant female stepped out of the vehicle and began screaming in fear," a statement said. "At this point the civilian vehicle exploded, killing three coalition force members who were approaching the vehicle and wounding two others."

Last Saturday, an Iraqi suicide bomber driving a taxi packed with high explosives killed four US soldiers at a US checkpoint on the main road north of Najaf, in southern Iraq.

On Monday, seven women and children were killed by US troops as their minibus approached another US checkpoint near Najaf.

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