Baghdad, Iraq – Eight U.S. soldiers died Saturday in Iraq, including seven killed in roadside bombings, the U.S. military said, bringing to 30 the number of U.S. servicemen whose deaths were announced in the past six days.
The deaths raise to 78 the number of American troops killed in Iraq this month, according to the independent monitoring group iCasualties Sixty deaths were caused by roadside bombs, the leading killer of U.S. troops in Iraq.
U.S. military officials say powerful roadside bombings are occurring more frequently as more troops deploy on the streets, particularly in the capital. U.S. officials say many materials used in the bombs and much of the know-how for building them are being imported from neighboring Iran.
In the deadliest incident Saturday, four U.S. soldiers were killed in northwestern Baghdad when a bomb exploded near their vehicle, according to a military statement. An Iraqi interpreter was wounded.
Two soldiers were killed in eastern Baghdad when their unit was hit by a roadside bomb and then small-arms fire, the military said. A U.S. airman was killed in a roadside bomb attack in Tikrit, about 90 miles north of Baghdad.
A U.S. soldier died in Baghdad of noncombat causes, the military said.
The British Defense Ministry announced a British soldier died of wounds suffered in a roadside bombing Friday near the southern port city of Basra, bringing to 153 the number of British troops killed in the war.
