Attack wounds 35 soldiers in Iraq

Fort Riley troops among injured

? Anti-American insurgents fired mortar rounds at a U.S. military camp Wednesday night, wounding 35 U.S. soldiers, the U.S. command said.

Six mortar rounds exploded about 6:45 p.m. at Logistical Base Seitz west of Baghdad, a U.S. military spokesman said in a statement. The camp is in the so-called Sunni Muslim triangle that is a stronghold of resistance to the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

“The wounded soldiers were given first aid and have been evacuated from the site for further medical treatment,” the statement said. The Pentagon added that the soldiers were from the Army’s 541st Maintenance Battalion, based in Fort Riley, Kan., and part of the 3rd Corps Support Command.

Christie Vanover, spokeswoman for Fort Riley, said post officials were trying to confirm the incident. The 3rd Corps Support Command is based in Heidleburg, Germany.

A press release from Fort Riley says only two of the wounded soldiers are from the Kansas post, and both soldiers were back on duty.

The 541st Maintenance Battalion is part of the 937th Engineer Group, which has been deployed to Iraq since late February. According to the Fort Riley Web site, the battalion is one of the most frequently deployed units on post, supporting Fort Riley’s stand-alone brigades, the 1st Infantry Division and the 1st Armored Division.

Since April, 21 Fort Riley soldiers have been killed in Iraq, including Sgt. Dennis A. Corral, 33, of Kearney, Neb., who died Jan. 1 when traveling in a convoy to Baghdad International Airport. More than 6,500 soldiers from Fort Riley have deployed to Iraq.

The mortars hit “a living area where they have their sleeping quarters,” the spokesman said.

A Pentagon spokesman said that some of those wounded returned to duty shortly after the attack, while others were hospitalized. The spokesman, Lt. Col. James Cassella, said he did not know how many were seriously or lightly wounded.

Earlier Wednesday, U.S. troops said they destroyed a home in Fallujah, the center of the anti-American insurgency west of Baghdad, where enraged neighbors said a married couple were killed and their five children were orphaned.

The neighbors said the couple were innocent in an attack on the troops that led them to shell the house.

“This is democracy? These corpses?” Raad Majeed asked at the hospital, gesturing at the remains of the couple. “It’s a crime against humanity.”