Suicide bomb kills US marines
A number of US marines have been killed and others seriously wounded in a suicide bomb attack on a military checkpoint in Baghdad.
US marines spokesman Major Matt Baker said that "some" servicemen had been killed, although he could not say how many.
The BBC's Paul Wood in Baghdad said that he heard a series of loud explosions not far from the Hotel Palestine in central Baghdad, where the majority of the foreign press in the city is based.
US marines who said they witnessed the incident told our correspondent that an Iraqi man had approached the checkpoint and detonated a number of grenades.
Smoke can now be seen rising from the scene of the incident.
The suicide bomb attack is the second against US troops in Iraq since the war began - in March four American soldiers were killed in an attack at a checkpoint near the town of Najaf.
Prior to the conflict a number of Iraqis vowed to carry out suicide bomb attacks against coalition troops. They are said to have been joined by the so-called Arab Volunteers, foreigners who have travelled to Iraq to carry out such attacks.
US forces seized control of the Iraqi capital on Wednesday, but our correspondent says Baghdad remains a dangerous and unstable place, as this incident illustrates.
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2937297.stm> ***** -- Yoshie
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