Insurgents in Iraq launched a wave of suicide attacks against U.S. forces and kidnapped an American contractor Monday.
A spokesman for the U.S. embassy says the contractor was abducted near Baghdad. Earlier, suicide bombers blew up three vehicles at the entrance to a U.S. base in western Iraq. Three U.S. Marines and three Iraqi civilians were wounded. Insurgents in another vehicle opened fire on the base before a U.S. helicopter destroyed their car.
And in Samarra, a suicide car bomber killed three people and wounded 20 others when his vehicle exploded near a U.S. convoy.
Meanwhile, media reports say the U.S. Defense Department may withdraw a quarter of its troops from Iraq by early next year. But a Pentagon spokesman tells VOA that there is no specific plan. He says a withdrawal would depend on several factors and the security situation in Iraq.