U.S. Soldier Grazed by Bullet at Iraqi Training Facility Outside Baghdad

An American soldier was grazed by a bullet this week while standing guard at an Iraqi training facility at Besimaya, southeast of Baghdad — the first American servicemember wounded in the U.S. train-and-advise operation there.

The soldier was wounded when a single bullet grazed his nose as he was on watch in a guard tower Wednesday night. He and a second soldier came under small-arms fire from the darkness beyond the compound wall. Both returned fire. The second soldier was not wounded. The shooter escaped.

There are about 100 American soldiers at the Iraqi base at Besimaya as part of the U.S. mission to train Iraqi soldiers. The wounded soldier was treated and returned immediately to duty.

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— Jim Miklaszewski