Deadly day for US troops
12/03/2008 10:44  - (SA)  

US Mideast commander quits Poll won't influence troops Bodies found in mass grave 'Al-Qaeda planning big attack' Iraq war will cost $3 trillion 'Chuck Norris is a hero' US: Surge in attacks not a trend 69 killed in Baghdad blasts Baghdad bomb blasts kill 42

Baghdad - Violence killed at least 42 people, including 16 bus passengers caught in a roadside bombing in southern Iraq, after the deadliest day for US troops in precisely six months.

The US military announced on Tuesday that three American soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing north of Baghdad on Monday, bringing to eight the number of troops who died that day. The last time so many US military personnel were killed in Iraq was September 10, when 10 died.

Bloodshed has increased recently, despite what the military said has been a 60% drop in attacks across Iraq since June. Last Thursday, two massive bombs killed 68 people in Baghdad's Karradah neighbourhood. On March 3, two car bombings killed 24 people in the capital.

According to an Associated Press count, at the height of unrest from November 2006 to August 2007, on average approximately 65 Iraqis died each day as a result of violence. As conditions improved, the daily death toll steadily declined. It reached its lowest point in more than two years on January 2008, when on average 20 Iraqis died each day.

Those numbers have since jumped. In February, approximately 26 Iraqis died each day as a result of violence, and so far in March, that number is up to 39 daily. These figures reflect the months in which people were found, and not necessarily - in the case of mass graves - the months in which they were killed.

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