WASHINGTON, Oct 16: The US military is investigating a refusal this week by some US troops to take part in a supply convoy in Iraq, where explosive devices have killed dozens of soldiers, defence officials said on Friday.
A statement issued by the military in Iraq called it an "isolated incident". Family members of some of the nearly 20 troops told a US newspaper that security for the fuel trucks was inadequate.
The military statement said that 19 members of the 343rd Quartermaster Company, a unit that moves water and other supplies for American troops, did not report to formation to prepare for their assigned convoy mission on Wednesday morning. It said the investigation would determine whether the military's strict code of conduct was violated.
Refusal to obey orders, especially in a combat zone, is a serious military offence. But the statement stressed: "It is far too early in the investigation to speculate as to what happened, why it happened or any action that might be taken."
The Clarion-Ledger newspaper in Jackson, Mississippi, Said on Friday that interviews with some family members indicated that soldiers from the unit, based in Tallil, refused to go on the mission because they felt they did not have an adequate armed escort and the vehicles were not in good shape.
"Initial indication is that the soldiers scheduled for the convoy mission raised some valid concerns and the command is addressing them," the military statement from Iraq said, adding that some soldiers apparently expressed their concerns "in an inappropriate manner".
The commanding general of the 13th Corps support command quickly appointed the deputy commander to lead an investigation of the allegations, and troops were questioned at their headquarters in Tallil.
"It is important to note that the mission in question was carried out using other soldiers from the unit," the statement said.
It also said the commanding general had directed a safety-maintenance "stand-down" of the unit during which all vehicles would be thoroughly inspected and retraining conducted.
The newspaper said the convoy was going to Taji, north of Baghdad.
"I got a call from an officer in another unit early (Thursday) morning who told me that my husband and his platoon had been arrested on a bogus charge because they refused to go on a suicide mission," the newspaper quoted Jackie Butler of Jackson as saying.
"When my husband refuses to follow an order, it has to be something major," said Butler, identified as the wife of Sgt Michael Butler, a 24-year reservist.
One soldier left a message on his mother's telephone answering machine saying that the soldiers were under arrest while the investigation was going on, according to the newspaper.
But the military denied that any soldiers had been placed under arrest.
BLASTS ROCK CHURCHES: Bomb blasts rocked five churches in Baghdad on Saturday and a medic died when a mortar round exploded at a hospital, while the US military said twin car bombs killed four US soldiers and a translator elsewhere in the country.
American and Iraqi troops ringed the guerilla hub of Fallujah in the hunt for Abu Mussab al Zarqawi, the country's most wanted man who is blamed for some of the deadliest attacks since last year's invasion.
Iraq's tiny Christian community was in shock after seemingly coordinated blasts caused widespread damage but no casualties.
A bomb hit the church of Saint Joseph, followed by similar explosions over the next two hours outside four other churches.
Flames engulfed the Roman Catholic Saint George's church in the central Baghdad district of Karrada, leaving its wood-built sanctuary charred.
"My family and I fled from the fire," said the church caretaker Nabil Jamil as he wandered around the debris. "Thanks God, there were no wounded or dead."
A similar attack at the start of August left 10 people dead and 50 injured.
Liquor stores and night clubs have also been targeted.
In other incidents of violence, a mortar round struck the garden of a cardiac hospital in Baghdad, killing one medic and wounding nine other staff, said an official at the Ibn el Bitar hospital.
FOUR SOLDIERS KILLED: The US military said three soldiers, a marine and a civilian translator were killed and one soldier wounded in two car bombings on Friday, one in the northern city of Mosul and another near the city of Qaim, on Iraq's border with Syria.
The deaths raise to 1,087 the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq since the US-led invasion in March last year, according to an official Pentagon tally.
A favourite weapon for the anti-US fighters _ cars packed with explosives and detonated outside police stations on US patrols and other symbolic targets _ have become a near daily occurrence.
FALLUJAH UNDER SIEGE: Desperate to crush the resistance before nationwide elections planned for January, more than 1,000 US and Iraqi troops surrounded the flashpoint city of Fallujah for a second straight day in the hunt for the Jordanian-born Zarqawi.
A US military spokesman refused to say if marines would enter the city, but said a bomb was dropped on a house there on Friday night - an almost nightly occurrence. There was no word on casualties.
In a glimmer of hope for a peaceful resolution, a local leader, Sheikh Abdul Hamid Jadu, indicated that a delegation from the city was ready to return to the bargaining table with the government, but conditioned this on a halt to US air strikes and the release of fellow negotiator Sheikh Khaled Hamoud. -Reuters/AFP
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