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WORLD / America
Roadside bombs kill 4 US troops in Iraq
(AP)
Updated: 2007-08-07 20:15
BAGHDAD - Four more US soldiers were killed in roadside bombings in the
Baghdad area, including three in a single strike, the military said
Tuesday, raising to at least 19 the number of troop deaths in the first
week of August.
An Iraqi woman reacts in front of a US soldier from the 2nd battalion,
32nd Field Artillery brigade patrolling in Baghdad August 6, 2007.
[Reuters]
The numbers signaled a resurgence in attacks after July saw the lowest
number of US casualties in eight months. US commanders have warned they
expected militants to try to upstage a September report on military and
economic progress in Iraq.
Iraq's political crisis also worsened as five more ministers announced a
boycott of Cabinet meetings - leaving Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's
unity government with no members affiliated with Sunni political factions.
Al-Maliki, meanwhile, arrived in Turkey for a state visit likely to be
dominated by Turkish warnings to either crack down on rebel bases in
northern Iraq or face a possible incursion. He was slated to travel to
Iran on Wednesday.
The US military said three Task Force Marne soldiers were killed Saturday
when a roadside bomb struck their convoy south of Baghdad, the military
said.
One Multi-National Division - Baghdad soldier was killed and another
wounded Monday when their vehicle was targeted by an armor-piercing
explosively formed penetrator, or EFP, in a western section of the
capital, according to a separate statement.
Washington has accused Iran of supplying Shiite extremists with EFPs to
step up attacks against American forces. Tehran denies the allegations.
The military also said earlier that four soldiers were killed in a
powerful combat explosion in restive Diyala province north of the capital
on Monday.
The deaths raised to at least 19 members of the US military who have died
this month, or a rate of about three per day, putting August on track for
a heavier toll after a drop in July. Seventy-nine American troop deaths
were reported, the lowest number since 70 killed in November.
More than 100 American forces died each month in the April-to-June period
as the incoming US troops were deployed with the Iraqi army in Baghdad's
dangerous streets and security outposts.
Despite the relatively low number in July, Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the
US second-in-command, has blamed nearly three-quarters of the attacks on
rogue Shiite militias the military believes are being armed and trained
by Iran, which he said was increasing its support ahead of the pivotal
report to be delivered to Congress in September.
Despite the new US accusations of Iranian meddling, the US and Iranian
ambassadors met Monday for their third round of talks in just over two
months. The US Embassy called the talks between Ambassador Ryan Crocker
and his counterpart, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, "frank and serious."
The new cracks in al-Maliki's government appeared even as US military
officials sounded cautious notes of progress on security, citing strides
against insurgents linked to al-Qaida in Iraq but also new threats from
Iranian-backed Shiite militias.
But it was al-Maliki's troubles that seized the most attention.
The Cabinet boycott of five ministers loyal to former Iraqi leader Ayad
Allawi left the government, at least temporarily, without participants
who were members of the Sunni political apparatus - a deep blow to the
prime minister's attempt to craft reconciliation among the country's
majority Shiites and minority Sunnis and Kurds.
The defense minister is from a Sunni background but has no political ties
and was chosen by al-Maliki.
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