Baghdad, Iraq – Insurgents launched a coordinated ambush against Iraqi soldiers northeast of Baghdad on Saturday, detonating a roadside bomb and then firing on the patrol, killing 19 and wounding two, officials said.
The attack took place near Adhaim, about 60 miles from Baghdad, Iraqi officials said. It came two days after a roadside bomb killed 10 U.S. Marines and wounded 11 others on a foot patrol near Fallujah in the deadliest attack against American forces in four months.
Altogether, at least 2,124 Americans have died since the war began, according to an Associated Press count.
Last week, President Bush outlined his strategy for victory in Iraq, with a key point calling for Iraqi forces to eventually replace U.S. troops in the fight against insurgents.
Elsewhere, a U.S. base at Mosul’s airport came under mortar or rocket fire Saturday, wounding two American soldiers, the U.S. military said. Several detonations shook the installation – Forward Operating Base Courage – at about 6:50 a.m., the command said.
In Berlin, the German government said it was making intense efforts to secure the release of an aid worker and her driver kidnapped in Iraq on Nov. 25. In a video made public Tuesday, kidnappers threatened to kill Susanne Osthoff, 43, unless Germany stops dealing with the Iraqi government.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has said Germany will not be “blackmailed” in the case.
Germany was an ardent opponent of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and refused to send troops there – a stance Merkel will not change.
However, it has been training Iraqi soldiers and police outside the country.
The al-Jazeera network broadcast a videotape and statement Friday in which the kidnappers of four Christian peace activists threatened to kill the hostages – two Canadians, an American and a Briton – unless all prisoners in U.S. and Iraqi detention centers were freed by Thursday.
