Active Unit News

Three US soldiers injured
From correspondents in Iraq
06may03
THREE US soldiers were injured when a suspected US cluster bomb exploded inside a major US base in northern Iraq, officers said. The soldiers, from the 3-16 artillery battalion of the 4th Infantry Division, were walking across a dirt field inside the base when the device exploded, witnesses said. Surgeon Robert Tyler, who was the first doctor at the scene, said one soldier was in critical condition with shrapnel in his eye and head, another was seriously injured in the elbow, and the third suffered light wounds to the torso. All three were immediately evacuated to a combat field hospital about 40km north of Baqubah, the capital of Diyala province. "It looked like a cluster bomb because it looked like a little yellow soup can," Tyler said. Ordnance specialists later cordoned off the area where several yellow canisters could be seen in the dirt, just metres from soldiers' sleeping areas. Cluster bombs open out after they are dropped, dispersing hundreds of smaller bomblets to cover a wide area. They are designed to damage infantry formations and "soft" vehicles, but typically many of the bomblets do not explode, creating long-term hazards for civilians. US troops moved into Baqubah late last month and encountered no resistance as they seized the abandoned airfield.

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