Two US soldiers killed in Baghdad
BAGHDAD (AFP) — Insurgents killed two US soldiers in Baghdad in separate attacks of small arms fire and a bomb blast, the American military said Wednesday.
Both the soldiers died on Tuesday in northwestern Baghdad.
One soldier was killed at around 8:50 pm (1750 GMT) in small arms fire and the other died when a roadside bomb struck his vehicle at around 10:15 pm, the military said.
The latest deaths brought the number of US troops killed in Iraq this month to 46 and to 4,058 the military's total losses since the March 2003 invasion, according to an AFP count based on independent website www.icasualties.org.
April is emerging as the deadliest month for the military since September 2007. At least 65 soldiers were killed in September last year.
Of the 46 soldiers killed so far in April, 20 died in Baghdad where the military is engaged in fierce street battles with Shiite militiamen, mostly from the Mahdi Army of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
The clashes have been largely focussed in the southern section of Sadr City, the sprawling bastion of Mahdi Army.
The lowest casualties so far in 2008 have been in February with 29 soldiers killed.
