2 Coalition Soldiers, 6 Iraqis Killed in Attacks

A wave of bombings shook the capital Monday night, killing at least six Iraqis and wounding more than 40 others, Iraqi and American officials said. A U.S. soldier and a British soldier were killed in separate incidents.

The first blast, a car bomb, exploded about 6:25 p.m. near St. George’s Church in southern Baghdad, just minutes after U.S. and Iraqi troops launched their attack to take back control of the rebel-held city of Fallouja, about 35 miles to the west.

An Army spokesman said there were no casualties in the attack on St. George’s. About five minutes later, however, a second car bomb outside St. Matthew’s Church, less than a mile away, killed three people and injured at least 25, doctors said.

Many of the victims were taken to Yarmouk Hospital.

A suicide car bomb later exploded near that hospital’s emergency room entrance.

Muamar Noori, a police captain at the scene, said the blast set several police cars ablaze and propelled one into the hospital entrance, where guards are stationed.

Wire services reported that at least three Iraqi policemen, and as many as five, were killed.

It is unusual for police cars to congregate outside the hospital, but several officers had brought colleagues injured in another bombing Monday to the emergency room for treatment. They were waiting for word on their friends’ conditions when the bomb exploded.

Adel Ani, who owns a shop near the hospital, shook his head in dismay. “Why did they target the hospital? I am worried about the older patients in the hospital, the ones with heart disease,” he said.

“I am afraid some will die because of the shock.”

Another man near the scene who declined to give his name said: “Today they attacked the hospital. Tomorrow they will attack the colleges and schools.”

U.S. soldiers surrounded the area almost immediately.

Also Monday, a British soldier was killed and two were injured when a roadside bomb exploded south of Baghdad, the military announced.

A U.S. soldier died after his patrol was hit by small-arms fire in eastern Baghdad in the midafternoon, the military said.

Neither soldier was immediately identified.

This morning, insurgents apparently aligned with Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab Zarqawi attacked two police stations in villages near Baqubah, about 40 miles northeast of Baghdad, injuring at least 11 Iraqi policemen.

Times special correspondents Said Rifai and Saif Rasheed contributed to this report.