BAGHDAD, 1 November 2005 — Six American soldiers were killed in separate attacks yesterday and a Marine died in action the day before, making October the deadliest month for US troops in Iraq since January. US jets struck insurgent targets near the Syrian border and at least six people were killed.
Four soldiers from the Army’s Task Force Baghdad soldiers died when their patrol struck a roadside bomb in Youssifiyah, 20 km south of Baghdad, in an area known as the “triangle of death.”
Two other soldiers from the 29th Brigade Combat Team were also killed in a bombing near Balad, 80 km north of Baghdad. The US military also said a Marine was killed Sunday near Amiriyah, 40 km west of Baghdad.
Those deaths raised the death toll for October to more than 90, the highest monthly total since January when 107 American service members died. The latest deaths brought to 2,025 the number of US service members who have died since the Iraq war began in March 2003.
In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said there is no readily apparent explanation for why the number of US casualties was higher in October than in previous months. But he said the insurgents’ roadside bombs — which the military calls improvised explosive devices, or IEDs — are getting more sophisticated.
“We see an adversary that continues to develop some sophistication on very deadly and increasingly precise stand-off type weapons — IEDs, in particular. They’re obviously quite capable of killing large numbers of noncombatants indiscriminately, and we’re seeing a lot of that, too,” Di Rita told reporters.
The insurgents continually search for new and more effective ways to use IEDs, he said, while US forces look for new ways to counter the IED threat. “We’re getting more intelligence that’s allowing us to stop more of these things, find more of them” Di Rita said.
Before dawn yesterday, Marines backed by jets attacked insurgent positions near the Syrian border, destroying two “safe houses” believed used by Al-Qaeda figures, a US statement said. It made no mention of casualties, but Associated Press Television News video from the scene showed residents wailing over the bodies of about six people, including at least three children.
At the local hospital, Dr. Ahmed Al-Ani claimed 40 Iraqis, including 12 children, were killed in the attack. But the claim could not be independently verified.
APTN footage showed Iraqi men digging through the rubble of several destroyed concrete buildings with a pitchfork or their hands. In the building of a nearby home, women cried over the bodies of about half a dozen blanket-covered bodies lined up on the floor. Some of the blankets were opened for the camera showing a man and three children.
“At least 20 innocent people were killed by the US warplanes. Why are the Americans killing families? Where are the insurgents?” one middle-aged man told APTN. “We don’t see democracy. We just see destruction.” He didn’t give his name.
