Terrorists Fire Dud in Attempt to Disrupt Tikrit Ceremony

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Nov. 22, 2005 - Terrorists today fired what officials called "unidentified explosive ordnance" at a ceremony where multinational forces were turning over control of the former Saddam Hussein palace complex to Iraqi government officials in Tikrit, Iraq, military officials said.

The ordnance failed to explode, and no one was injured in the incident, officials said. The ceremony resumed shortly afterward and was completed without further disruption.

In other news from Iraq, a soldier was killed Nov. 21 when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb near Habbaniyah, about 50 miles west of Baghdad, officials at Camp Fallujah reported today.

The name of the soldier, who was assigned to the 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

In the air war over Iraq, coalition aircraft flew 40 close-air-support missions Nov. 21 in support of troops, infrastructure protection, reconstruction activities and operations to deter and disrupt terrorist activities, U.S. Central Command Air Forces officials reported today.

Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons dropped precision-guided bombs on an anti-Iraqi forces staging area and weapons cache near Salman Pak, a city on the Tigris River about 15 miles southwest of Baghdad. Air Force F-16s also provided close-air support to coalition troops fighting enemy forces near Hawijah. Eleven Air Force and Navy intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft flew missions in support of operations in Iraq.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and U.S. Central Command Air Forces Forward news releases.)

Related Site:

Multinational Force Iraq [http://www.mnf-iraq.com/]

Related Article:

Saddam's Hometown Palace to Transfer to Iraqis [http://www.dod.mil/news/Nov2005/20051121_3402.html]

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