U.S. Soldiers Kill About 15 Insurgents, Foil Truck Bomb Attacks

Tuesday, March 27th 2007, 3:51 pm

By: News On 6

BAGHDAD (AP) _ U.S. soldiers foiled two suicide truck bombings against their base in a small town west of Baghdad and killed as many as 15 attackers, the U.S. military reported Tuesday.

The attacks began when a water truck tried to drive into the base just north of Karmah, a town not far from the city of Fallujah, at about 2 p.m. Monday. A soldier opened fire and the truck bomb exploded.

The military said 30 insurgents responded with small-arms fire, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars. Five minutes into the firefight, a dump truck following the same path as the exploded water truck tried to smash into the base but the driver was shot and the load of explosives blew up.

The military estimated it killed 15 insurgents in the fight and said eight soldiers were wounded. Seven of the wounded returned to duty after treatment by medics at the site. One soldier was hospitalized.