WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three Americans -- in Iraq under the auspices of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board -- were killed in Mosul on Monday, according to a report on the board's Web site.Two others were wounded in the drive-by shooting, the report said.
Without specifying, the board said the five were in Iraq to "research needs for humanitarian projects in northern Iraq."
"Killed were Larry T. Elliott, 60, and Jean Dover Elliott, 58, of Cary, North Carolina, and Karen Denise Watson, 38, of Bakersfield, California. The Elliotts had served with the International Mission Board in Honduras since 1978 and transferred to the Middle East in February 2004. Watson had been with the board since March 2003," an account on the Web site said.
Listed as wounded were David McDonnall, 28, and Carrie Taylor McDonnall, 26, of Rowlett, Texas, in service with the board since November of last year.
A Southern Baptist field representative has been dispatched to the McDonnalls, who the board said are being treated at a U.S. military hospital.
"In times like this, there are no words that will take away the pain of a loved one's violent death," International Mission Board President Jerry Rankin said in a statement on the web site.
"Everyone in the IMB family and everyone who loves Southern Baptists' overseas workers are grieving with the family members and co-workers of these precious souls," he said.
The shootings were carried out against a background that included the death of board missionary Bill Hyde by a bomb in Davao City, Philippines, last year and the murder of three workers at the Baptist hospital in Jibla, Yemen, 14 months ago, the Web site reported.
The board is in Richmond, Virginia. As of 2000, it claimed 30,000 volunteers. According to the Web site, last year board workers and their Baptist partners overseas reported a record 395,773 baptisms and 5,775 new churches worldwide.
