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BFF-26
US-IRAQ-BLAST
Roadside bomb hits US-led coalition truck in southern Iraq
BAGHDAD, Aug 14, 2020 (BSS/XINHUA) – A roadside bomb explosion hit a truck belonging to the U.S.-led coalition forces in al-Qadisiyah province in southern Iraq, the Iraqi military said on Friday.
The blast took place when a convoy of trucks was moving on the highway near al-Diwaniyah bridge, some 180 km south of Baghdad, and resulted in minor damages, the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said in a brief statement.
This is the fourth attack this week against civilian convoys contracted with the international coalition in Iraq.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, but unidentified militant groups have frequently targeted U.S.-led coalition convoys, which usually travel from neighboring Kuwait to the coalition bases in central and northern Iraq.
More than 5,000 U.S. troops have been deployed in Iraq to support the Iraqi forces in the battles against the Islamic State (IS) militants, mainly providing training and advising to the Iraqi forces.
The troops are part of the U.S.-led coalition that has also been conducting air raids against IS targets in both Iraq and Syria.
BSS/XINHUA/SSS/2106 hrs