US soldier shoots dead five comrades in Iraq

A US soldier has shot dead five of his comrades at a military base in Baghdad today.

At least two others were wounded when the soldier opened fire at around 2pm local time at Camp Liberty, a sprawling installation next to the airport.

The CNN and MSNBC television networks reported that the soldier turned his gun on himself, but apparently he did not die.

“The shooter is a US soldier and he is in custody,” said Marine Corps Lieutenant Tom Garnett, a US military spokesman.
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A Pentagon official said that the incident was under investigation.

Earlier this month, two US soldiers were killed by a man wearing an Iraqi Army uniform at an Iraqi military training centre in northern Iraq.

Violence had dropped sharply in Iraq, but insurgent attacks continue. Last month 13 US troops died, including five who were killed in a suicide blast by a truck driver near the police headquarters in Mosul.

The US is due to withdraw combat troops from urban bases in less than two months' time. British forces withdrew from Basra in April, handing over to the US.

Today a senior Iraqi traffic police officer was killed on his way to work by gunmen with silenced pistols in two cars, who blocked off his route then pulled up alongside, riddling his car with bullets.