U.S. Says Two Iraqis Killed by Own Bomb

Two Iraqis were killed and another was hurt when a bomb they intended to use against American soldiers exploded earlier than planned, a U.S. military official said Sunday.

The incident took place as U.S. forces were patrolling Saddam Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit late Saturday. Lt. Col. Steve Russell of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division said one of the dead was a nephew of one of Hussein’s brothers.

Russell said the Iraqis, in a white Mercedes, were about to put the bomb in front of his troops’ convoy when the car blew up. The one passenger who survived was detained.

Russell said the car matched the description of a vehicle implicated in several similar attacks.