TAJI, Iraq, Jan. 17 — Three American soldiers and two Iraqi paramilitary fighters were killed early Saturday when the armored vehicle they were riding in was struck by a large roadside bomb in this town about 12 miles north of Baghdad, the United States military said.
The American soldiers were with the Fourth Infantry Division, which has oversight for much of the volatile region north of Baghdad, which had been the base of support for the regime of Saddam Hussein. The two Iraqis were with the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, a paramilitary organization formed by the occupying authorities to help the Americans improve security in Iraq. Two other American soldiers were wounded in the attack.
The deaths of the soldiers on Saturday and another death on Friday in Mosul of a soldier by what the military classified as a "nonhostile" gunshot brought the number of American soldiers killed in operations related to Iraq to 500. Most died after May 1, when the end of major combat operations was declared.
The Americans and Iraqis who were attacked Saturday were patrolling in one of three Bradley armored vehicles surveying Taji for roadside bombs. About 7:45 a.m., the first vehicle in the patrol was struck by a bomb made of at least two 155-millimeter artillery shells and an "unknown amount of explosives," said Maj. Josslyn Aberle, a spokeswoman for the Fourth Infantry Division. The blast set the Bradley on fire.
