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October 18, 2006
10 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq
By JOHN O’NEIL
Ten American soldiers were killed on Tuesday, the military announced today, bringing October’s death toll for United States forces to 68.
Four of the soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb west of Baghdad, and three others died in fighting in Diyala province, a troubled area northeast of the capital where sectarian violence has run high.
A Marine was killed by insurgents in Anbar province, the western region where the Sunni insurgency is centered, and two soldiers were killed in Baghdad, one by insurgent gunfire and one by a roadside bomb.
In addition to the American casualties, the Iraqi chief of intelligence for Maysan province in the south died along with four of his bodyguards when his car touched off a bomb planted on a highway.
Sunni and Shiite leaders in Balad met to investigate the fate of more than 40 people who are still missing after being kidnapped at a checkpoint outside the city on Sunday, according to The Associated Press. More than 60 people died in mass sectarian attacks over the weekend.
If the current rate of almost four fatalities a day continues, October will be the third deadliest month for the American forces since the war began, according to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, an independent web site that tracks war-related deaths and injuries.
Previous spikes in fatalities coincided with major American offensives against entrenched guerilla fighters. In November 2004, when an offensive was conducted against the Sunni stronghold of Fallujah, 137 American troops were killed; in April 2004, when an earlier assault on that city was carried out, 135 died.
American military officials have given two explanations for the recent increase in casualties, which has come despite improvements in armor protection for soldiers and their vehicles: the rise in violence that usually accompanies the Muslim month of Ramadan, and the more aggressive approach American forces have taken to patrolling the capital.
The higher levels of engagement represent a change from American thinking at the start of the year, when commanders planned to pull their troops back from the fighting as Iraqi forces took on more responsibility.
That remains the administration’s long-term exit strategy. But the dilemma of commanders seeking to keep violence under control while nurturing the independence of the Iraqi forces was underscored by the slaughter in Balad, which abated only after American soldiers moved into the city and resumed joint patrols. Control of the area had been handed over to the Iraqi Fourth Army a month ago.
The A.P. reported today that Shiite militants have blocked food and fuel trucks from entering the predominantly Sunni town of Duluiyah, on Balad’s outskirts, where the killing of 14 kidnapped Shiites on Friday touched off the weekend’s violence.
Sunnis continued to flee Balad, which has a Shiite majority, in small boats, the A.P. said.
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10 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq
By JOHN O’NEIL
Ten American soldiers were killed on Tuesday, the military announced today, bringing October’s death toll for United States forces to 68.
Four of the soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb west of Baghdad, and three others died in fighting in Diyala province, a troubled area northeast of the capital where sectarian violence has run high.
A Marine was killed by insurgents in Anbar province, the western region where the Sunni insurgency is centered, and two soldiers were killed in Baghdad, one by insurgent gunfire and one by a roadside bomb.
In addition to the American casualties, the Iraqi chief of intelligence for Maysan province in the south died along with four of his bodyguards when his car touched off a bomb planted on a highway.
Sunni and Shiite leaders in Balad met to investigate the fate of more than 40 people who are still missing after being kidnapped at a checkpoint outside the city on Sunday, according to The Associated Press. More than 60 people died in mass sectarian attacks over the weekend.
If the current rate of almost four fatalities a day continues, October will be the third deadliest month for the American forces since the war began, according to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count, an independent web site that tracks war-related deaths and injuries.
Previous spikes in fatalities coincided with major American offensives against entrenched guerilla fighters. In November 2004, when an offensive was conducted against the Sunni stronghold of Fallujah, 137 American troops were killed; in April 2004, when an earlier assault on that city was carried out, 135 died.
American military officials have given two explanations for the recent increase in casualties, which has come despite improvements in armor protection for soldiers and their vehicles: the rise in violence that usually accompanies the Muslim month of Ramadan, and the more aggressive approach American forces have taken to patrolling the capital.
The higher levels of engagement represent a change from American thinking at the start of the year, when commanders planned to pull their troops back from the fighting as Iraqi forces took on more responsibility.
That remains the administration’s long-term exit strategy. But the dilemma of commanders seeking to keep violence under control while nurturing the independence of the Iraqi forces was underscored by the slaughter in Balad, which abated only after American soldiers moved into the city and resumed joint patrols. Control of the area had been handed over to the Iraqi Fourth Army a month ago.
The A.P. reported today that Shiite militants have blocked food and fuel trucks from entering the predominantly Sunni town of Duluiyah, on Balad’s outskirts, where the killing of 14 kidnapped Shiites on Friday touched off the weekend’s violence.
Sunnis continued to flee Balad, which has a Shiite majority, in small boats, the A.P. said.
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