Soldier Killed in Baghdad, 2 Other U.S. Troops Injured

An explosive device killed an American soldier Monday in the mainly Shiite neighborhood of Karada in central Baghdad, a statement from the U.S. Central Command said.

The statement said nothing about how the incident occurred, but a command spokesman in Florida said, “It was a hostile act.”

The soldier, from the Army’s 1st Armored Division, was taken to the 28th Combat Support Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the Central Command statement said. He was not identified pending notification of relatives.

Two soldiers were wounded in a separate incident, after guerrillas attacked their convoy with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire about eight miles east of Tikrit, Army 4th Infantry Division spokesman Lt. Col. Bill MacDonald said. Those soldiers were in stable condition.

The military also offered condolences Monday for its erroneous killing of Reuters cameraman Mazen Dana.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists and Paris-based Reporters Without Borders demanded that Washington launch a full investigation and public accounting into the Sunday shooting of the 43-year-old Palestinian. His employer also called for a probe.

Dana, a father of four, was shot and killed by U.S. soldiers while videotaping near a U.S.-run prison on the outskirts of Baghdad. The Army said its soldiers mistook his camera for a grenade launcher.

In Dana’s hometown of Hebron in the West Bank, mourners lashed out at the U.S., stepping on an American flag laid out as a doormat at the Dana family home.

“An American bullet prevented a father from seeing his 1-year-old girl take her first steps,” Dana’s brother, Najeh, said angrily.

Dana was the second Reuters cameraman mistakenly killed by U.S. forces in Iraq.

“Coming so soon after the death of Taras Protsyuk, also killed by a U.S. tank -- this latest death is hard to bear,” said Reuters Chief Executive Tom Glocer. “That’s why I am personally calling upon the highest levels of the U.S. government for a full and comprehensive investigation into this terrible tragedy.”

The top U.S. military spokesman offered condolences to Dana’s family but said U.S. troops would not fire warning shots when they felt threatened.

Dana’s last pictures showed two tanks approaching, the nearest about 50 yards away when six shots rang out and the camera fell.