Bombings Spur Clashes; Allawi Notes Challenges

A string of bombings set off clashes Tuesday between U.S. troops and gunmen in Al Anbar province, west of Baghdad, and in the northern city of Mosul. At least five American soldiers were wounded.

In Ramadi, about 60 miles west of Baghdad, U.S. troops and insurgents exchanged gunfire after a car bomb exploded, police Capt. Nassir Hassan said. A photographer at the scene reported seeing two Iraqis dead and four wounded.

Later, a roadside bomb detonated as a U.S. military convoy was passing near the Grand Mosque in Ramadi, wounding one American, a Marine spokesman said. A hospital doctor said four Iraqis were killed.

In the nearby city of Fallouja, U.S. aircraft made about 15 bombing runs, a witness said. There was no immediate official comment on casualties.

In Mosul, a car bomb targeted a U.S. convoy, wounding four soldiers, a military spokeswoman said. After the explosion, insurgents fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the convoy, which returned fire, she said. Three Iraqi civilians reportedly were killed.

Improvised bombs have become the main killers of U.S. troops in Iraq, accounting for roughly 50% of deaths each month, Pentagon officials say.

At a speech in Baghdad, interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi acknowledged that security was a challenge.

“I don’t want to deny the impact of the security situation,” Allawi said.

“I believe that many of the Iraqi people agree with me that we should not let terrorist forces decide our agenda.

“It’s true that the security situation ... is a source of worry to many who are concerned about Iraq’s future. But it’s better than surrendering to the evil forces or giving in to their demands.”

Allawi’s government has been negotiating with followers of renegade Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada Sadr to halt weeks of fighting with U.S. troops in the Baghdad district of Sadr City.

However, clashes between Sadr’s militia and American troops continued Tuesday.

The lack of security has raised questions about whether elections scheduled for January can go ahead, but Allawi again pledged to hold them on time.

“We won’t let terrorist forces dictate our schedule,” he told Iraq’s interim assembly.

In a visit to the U.S. last month, he made a similar pledge to hold elections and defeat insurgents