Seven Militants Killed in Iraq - 2003-11-14

Seven militants were killed in Iraq - 2003-11-14. Two American soldiers were killed due to a bomb explosion placed alongside a road north of Baghdad, but reports from American officials indicate successes in the fight against insurgents in other areas of Iraq. The recent American casualties occurred near the town of Samarra, about 125 kilometers north of the Iraqi capital, near Tikrit, the hometown of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. In another operation, American officials in Iraq stated that an American attack helicopter killed seven militants who were preparing to launch a missile attack on an American military base. Officials reported that the crew of an Apache helicopter, equipped with a cannon, noticed the militants attempting to fire missiles at a base located 200 kilometers north of Baghdad. The American helicopter opened fire on the militants, and later several hundred missiles and mortars were found in an underground bunker and mounted on several trucks in that area. Additionally, for the second consecutive night, American forces attacked several positions in Baghdad believed to belong to insurgents from both ground and air. American officials stated that in one attack, an American aircraft destroyed a building from which American forces had recently been attacked. This marks the third consecutive day of American assaults on insurgents in Iraq.