Flames shot 200 feet into the air from a burst oil pipeline north of Baghdad on Tuesday, and U.S. forces fired warning shots to keep people from the scene. A U.S. soldier was killed when roadside bombs blasted an American convoy west of the capital. Two M-1 Abrams tanks and three soldiers crouched in firing positions ordered a fire truck to stay back from the blaze. “They were very hostile,” said fire department Lt. Hasannein Mohammed. The blaze near Taji, a region of date groves, military compounds and chemical plants, was burning about three miles north of a big refinery. It erupted in a grove of date palms less than 100 yards from a highway, sending a huge black cloud drifting south over the capital for several hours Tuesday afternoon. Before the war, U.N. weapons inspectors were in the area almost daily. Full Story
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