US soldier killed by man in Iraqi army uniform

One US Marine and a US soldier were shot dead yesterday in northern Iraq in an attack by two men, one of who appeared to be wearing an Iraqi army uniform, the US military said. Two more Marines and three civilians were wounded in the shooting, southwest of the city of Mosul, still an insurgency hub, close to the Syrian border. The attack came two weeks after an Iraqi soldier ambushed US troops at an Iraqi military base in a dangerous Sunni Arab neighborhood in Mosul. Two US soldiers died and six were wounded in the shootout before the Iraqi man was killed. The US soldier killed in the latest shooting was part of a military transition team that embeds with Iraqi forces. The unit had been conducting a humanitarian assistance operation close to Baaji, a mainly Sunni Arab area near the Syrian border. Colonel Bill Buckner, a US military spokesman, said: "The attack appears to have been unprovoked. It is unknown if the attacker was an Iraqi soldier or an insurgent in disguise." An investigation has been launched.