Grenade Attack Wounds 7 Soldiers

Seven U.S. soldiers were wounded when Iraqis lobbed two grenades into their base in Fallouja, where at least 16 people were killed during face-offs this week with American troops, the U.S. military said Thursday.

“The attack was an expression of the anger of a few people,” Army Capt. Alan Vaught said.

Fallouja Mayor Taha Badawi Hamid Alwani and some residents said the assailants used rocket-propelled grenades.

Soldiers at the compound, a former police station, said they could not tell whether the grenades were thrown or launched.

None of the injuries to soldiers of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment were life-threatening, Army Capt. Frank Rosenblatt said.

The troops inside the compound opened fire on men fleeing the area, but no one was captured or believed hit, said Rosenblatt, whose 82nd Airborne Division is handing over control to the Armored Cavalry.

On Monday, soldiers fired on an angry crowd demanding that U.S. troops leave a school they had occupied. At least fourteen Iraqis were killed.

Two days later, two Iraqis were killed when U.S. soldiers opened fire during a protest of the first incident. The military said the troops were shot at first in both cases. Iraqi witnesses said the troops fired first.