2 soldiers killed, 1 hurt in attack on US vehicle in Iraq

Armitage's remarks were made at the end of the bloodiest week for coalition forces since April.

The day began with the deaths of two US paratroopers with the 82d Airborne Division, who were killed in a land-mine explosion outside the restive city of Fallujah. It ended with several mortars falling near the Republican Palace complex in central Baghdad, the third such bombardment in a week aimed at the headquarters of the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority. There appeared to have been no injuries.

Citing what it called an unacceptable security threat, the International Committee of the Red Cross announced yesterday that it was closing its offices in Baghdad, the capital, and Basra. Twelve people were killed in a suicide car bombing at the organization's Baghdad headquarters on Oct. 27, but the Red Cross said it was unwilling to accept military protection because of its neutrality policy.

The deaths yesterday brought to 35 the number of coalition troops killed in November, a figure that included 34 US troops and one Polish major.

Sixteen of the deaths occurred in the crash of a Chinook helicopter near Fallujah on Nov. 2, and six people died in the crash Friday of a Black Hawk helicopter near the main US base in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown. The cause of the latest crash remains unknown, although the US command said in a statement that initial findings "discount the use of surface-to-air missiles as a possible cause.

In response to the latest crash, US F-16 warplanes dropped three 500-pound bombs yesterday near Tikrit and shelled several abandoned houses and structures thought to have provided cover to some insurgents. Troops accompanied by Bradley Fighting Vehicles also swept the area along the Tigris River, near where the Black Hawk fell.

"This was a show for force," said Major Gordon Tate, a spokesman for the Fourth Infantry Division, headquartered in one of Hussein's former palaces in Tikrit. "It shows we have the ability to strike back, and it demonstrates our resolve."

Dropping bombs on an empty landscape as a pure demonstration of power is an unusual tactic, underscoring the military's fury at the downing of three helicopters in a two-week period.

In addition to the Fallujah and Tikrit crashes, a chopper was brought down near Tikrit on Oct. 25 without fatalities.

Investigators have not determined what brought down the Black Hawk, although officials have ruled out a ground-to-air missile, such as the one suspected as having taken down the Chinook. Military spokesmen said a rocket-propelled grenade or small-arms fire might have been the cause of the crash, but Tate said mechanical failure has not been ruled out.

Armitage, who is touring several Arab Middle Eastern countries, expressed confidence in the US forces but acknowledged: "It's not a secret to anyone that in the Baghdad, Tikrit, Ramadi, Fallujah area, we've got a security problem. We're sobered by the problem but after discussions today . . . I am absolutely convinced that we have a very solid plan to go out and get these people who are killing us and killing Iraqis.

"We're going to take this fight to the enemy."

In other developments, the coalition announced the arrest yesterday of a suspected former bodyguard for Hussein during a raid near Kirkuk in northern Iraq and confiscated several weapons and ammunition. The statement said the military had been tipped that the suspect was active in attacks against US forces in recent weeks.