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At least one US marine was killed and three others were seriously wounded in downtown Baghdad Thursday night when a man strapped with explosives approached a Marine checkpoint and blew himself up.
The incident occurred at about 7:30 p.m. (1530 GMT) near the Palestine Hotel, where most foreign journalists are based.
US Marine Capt. Joe Plenzler said initial reports showed that it was an apparent suicide attack and he gave no further details on the circumstance of the incident.
It was the first such attack against American forces since they seized central Baghdad on Wednesday, and the third case of its kind since the US-led war on Iraq broke out on March 20.
One week ago, two Iraqi women blew themselves up in an attack on US forces, killing three American soldiers in western Iraq.
On March 29, a bomber posing as a taxi driver pulled up to a roadblock north of Najaf, waved to American troops for help, then blew up his vehicle as they approached, killing four US troops.
In another development, one US marine was killed and 20 others were wounded Thursday in an exchange of fire at a mosque and a presidential palace complex in Baghdad. Five Iraqi civilians were also killed in the firefight, witnesses said.
(Xinhua News Agency April 11, 2003)
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