Bomb Blast at Disco Hurts 7 U.S. Soldiers : Attack on American Servicemen is 4th in Honduras This Year

A bomb exploded today outside a discotheque patronized by American military personnel, wounding seven U.S. Army soldiers, three of them seriously, officials said.

The attack occurred shortly after midnight at La Ceiba, more than 200 miles north of Tegucigalpa, U.S. Embassy spokesman Charles V. Barclay said in a telephone interview. There was no claim of responsibility.

It was the fourth attack on U.S. soldiers in Honduras since Feb. 1. Three soldiers were injured in the previous incidents.

Victims Were MPs

Today’s victims were Army military police, who were in La Ceiba to act as escorts for about 150 American soldiers taking part in a joint road-building exercise with Honduran troops, Barclay said. He said the entire group was due to leave La Ceiba today.

In Washington, State Department deputy spokesman Richard Boucher said the explosive was thrown as the Americans left a disco. Barclay could not confirm that.

“We don’t know if the explosive device was hurled from a passing automobile or had been detonated in place,” Barclay said.

The injured soldiers were part of a group of nine who had been given a night’s leave and were in civilian clothes. Two uninjured soldiers fled and were arrested by Honduran troops because they had no identification, a Honduran military commander said.

Serious Condition

Barclay said three of the wounded soldiers were in serious condition, while the four others suffered lesser injuries. He said all were assigned to the Enrique Soto Cano Air Base, 50 miles northeast of Tegucigalpa, a major center for U.S. troops in Honduras.

The wounded soldiers were rushed to a private hospital in La Ceiba, Barclay said. Their names were not released.

Col. Eric Sanchez said the uninjured Americans were being held until they could be officially identified by U.S. officials.

Sanchez, the Honduran military commander at La Ceiba, said the attack occurred at 12:30 a.m. and involved a “homemade explosive device.”

Barclay said the troops were part of a convoy that had been building roads in a province 120 miles east of La Ceiba. The convoy had stopped for the night during its trip back to Soto Cano.

About 15,000 American troops and Honduran soldiers were taking part in an exercise called Strong Roads that began in December and ended Tuesday.

At least 20 American soldiers have been wounded in attacks in Honduras since 1982, when the United States started increasing its military presence in this country and holding joint exercises with Honduran troops.

Today’s attack came three months after unidentified assailants used gunfire and an explosive to attack a jeep convoy carrying 11 U.S. and six Honduran soldiers outside Olanchita, near La Ceiba. One jeep was disabled in the April 11 attack, but no injuries were reported.