BAGHDAD — Two U.S. troops were killed Saturday by an Iraqi soldier who apparently smuggled real bullets into a training exercise and opened fire, raising fresh concerns about insurgents worming into the nation’s security forces as the Americans prepare to leave by the year’s end.
A U.S. military official said the gunman was immediately killed by American soldiers who were running the morning drill at a training center on a U.S. base in the northern city of Mosul. The U.S. official said the exercise was not meant to involve live ammunition, and an Iraqi army officer said the shooting appeared to have been planned.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information. A U.S. statement confirmed that two soldiers were killed and a third was wounded by small-arms fire by what the military described as “an individual wearing an Iraqi army uniform.”
“This incident occurred during a training event being conducted by U.S. forces as part of their advise and assist mission with Iraqi security forces,” the U.S. military said in a statement.
The Americans were not identified pending notification of next of kin, and the statement provided few other details. The U.S. troops were from the 4th Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, based at Fort Hood, Texas.
Another American soldier was killed Saturday duringan unrelated military operation in central Iraq, making it one of the deadliest days for U.S. forces in the country in months.
A U.S. military statement offered no details about that death.
U.S. forces continue to face threats in Iraq even though most of the estimated 47,000 troops no longer go on regular combat missions.
The vast majority of American troops that remain - down from nearly 170,000 in 2007 - are all but confined to bases where they help train Iraqi police, soldiers and pilots on how to protect the country from threats like insurgents and invasions.
Saturday’s drill was designed to show security forces how to launch attacks and capture suspects, an Iraqi military official said, and it aimed to showcase U.S. training efforts before a Monday visit by top U.S. and Iraqi generals.
Both nations have been eager to highlight Iraq’s forces before U.S. troops leave the county at the end of the year after eight years of war, as required by a security agreement brokered in 2008 byWashington and Baghdad.
Details about the deadly exercise were sketchy Saturday afternoon.
A pair of Iraqi security officials said two assailants were captured after the shooting.
The U.S. military official disputed that account.
Iraqi defense spokesman Maj. Gen. Mohammed al-Askari declined comment, saying he had not yet received an official report about the shooting.
An officer with the 3rd Iraqi Army Division, which was participating in the training, said real bullets had been banned from the drill - meaning the Sunni Muslim soldier smuggled in the ammunition with the intent to attack.
The officer also spoke on condition of anonymity.
Attacks by Iraqi soldiers and police against Americansare not unprecedented, especially in Mosul, a former al-Qaida haven and Iraq’s thirdlargest city, located 225 miles northwest of Baghdad.
IRAQ, SYRIA MEET
Meanwhile, the prime ministers of Iraq and Syria agreed Saturday to boost cooperation in security and economic affairs during talks aimed at improving relations strained by Baghdad’s allegations that the Syrians were harboring Iraqi insurgents.
Syrian Prime Minister Naji al-Otari arrived in Iraq Saturday for a two-day visit less than a month after Iraq formed a new government and brought to an end political negotiations that had dragged on since elections in March.
Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the first round of talks was positive.
The two leaders agreed that Iraqis would be able to enter Syria without visas and laid plans to improve cooperation in security, oil exploration, trade and electricity, which the Syrians will sell to Iraq, al-Dabbagh said.
Relations between the two Arab neighbors have been rocky for decades.
The two severed diplomatic ties in 1980 when they were ruled by rival wings of the Baath Party. Syria supported Iran in the eight-year war with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq that ended in 1988.
Syria, which is predominantly Sunni, and mainly Shiite Iraq restored formal relations in 2006, and al-Otari visited Baghdad in April 2009 for the first visit by a Syrian head of government since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam.
Information for this article was contributed by Hamid Ahmed, Mazin Yahya, Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Robert H. Reid of The Associated Press.
Front Section, Pages 9 on 01/16/2011