US soldier killed, five wounded in attack on base near Fallujah

FALLUJAH, Iraq, Nov 5 (AFP) - An American soldier was killed and five others were wounded in an attack on a military base Friday near the flashpoint Iraqi city of Fallujah, the US military said.
"A 13th Corps Support Command soldier is dead and five are injured as the result of an indirect fire attack on a Multi-National Force military base near Fallujah at about 1:45 pm (1045 GMT)," the military said in a statement.
The wounded soldiers were treated at a medical facility and returned to duty, it said.
The latest death brings to 1,122 the number of US military personnel killed since the American-led invasion of Iraq launched in March 2003, according to Pentagon figures.
US troops have in recent weeksmassed around the insurgent strongholds of Fallujah and Ramadi, west of Baghdad, amid mounting expectations of a double-pronged assault.
Thousands of residents have fled Fallujah since an air campaign began during the summer in the hunt for Islamist militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his followers, who the military believes are using the city as a base.
People who travelled to Fallujah on Wednesday told AFP that all roads to the city were either closed or clogged with US military vehicles, and that only one rural road was left open.

11/05/2004 17:19 GMT - AFP