Blast targets US coalition convoy north of Baghdad

BAGHDAD - A blast from a planted explosive device hit a convoy of the US-led coalition near the Taji base north of Baghdad on Tuesday, the Iraqi military said in a statement.

The explosion caused a fire to a container on one of the vehicles but the military did not report any casualties. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast.

Meanwhile, the US military said Tuesday it was investigating a claim by a newly formed Iraqi Shiite militant group of a bombing at the Iraq-Kuwait border. Iraq and Kuwait denied an attack had taken place.

Iraq later said an explosion targeted a US-led coalition convoy on Tuesday in the Taji area, north of Baghdad, causing only minor damage. No one claimed responsibility for that attack.

The little-known Ashab al-Kahf group claimed in an overnight statement it destroyed “equipment and vehicles belonging to the American enemy” in a bombing targeting a border crossing south of the Iraqi city of Basra.

The group later published an 11-second video it claimed showed the blast, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors militant groups. The out-of-focus video shows what appeared to be an explosion and lights in the distance, with a man speaking in Arabic. The Associated Press could not immediately verify the video.

US Army Maj. John Rigsbee, a Central Command spokesman, said the American military was looking into reports of the explosion.

The Iraqi military denied the border attack took place, calling the video a fabrication intended to “mislead public opinion.”

A Kuwait military statement carried by the state-run KUNA news agency similarly denied reports about “a sabotage attack on a northern border post.”