Baghdad, Iraq – Five American troops were killed during fighting in Anbar province, the U.S. military said Thursday, bringing to at least 96 the number slain this month – the bloodiest since October 2005.
Elsewhere, bands of gunmen attacked Iraqi security forces north of the capital in Baqubah and outlying villages Thursday in what appeared to be a coordinated strike against police positions.
At least 28 police officers were killed and 10 wounded in a series of attacks and ambushes. As many as 50 officers are still missing, according to local authorities.
And in Najaf, authorities closed the most sacred Shiite Muslim shrine in the country following a tip about explosives allegedly smuggled into ancient parts of the southern city. Shopkeepers were asked to close and leave, and cars were banned anywhere near the Imam Ali shrine, police said.
Of the American troops, one sailor assigned to 3rd Naval Construction Regiment, two Marines assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5 and two Marines assigned to Regimental Combat Team 7 died Wednesday, the U.S. military said in a statement. More than a third of the U.S. deaths this month have occurred in Anbar, a poor and predominantly Sunni Arab province stretching from just outside Baghdad to the western border with Jordan.
The single most deadly month for U.S. troops in the 3 1/2-year- old conflict was November 2004, when U.S. forces invaded the city of Fallujah. That month, 137 U.S. troops died, 126 of them in combat, according to a website that tracks coalition casualties, icasualties.org.
In October 2005, 96 U.S. military personnel were killed.
Violence in Iraq usually spikes during Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting that just ended. At least 300 Iraqi soldiers were killed this year during the holy month, according to U.S. officials.
Gen. William Caldwell, the U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, said Thursday that there have been fewer killings in the capital during the past few days. On Thursday, the bodies of seven Iraqi men were found in the capital. All had been handcuffed and shot in the head.
