www射-国产免费一级-欧美福利-亚洲成人福利-成人一区在线观看-亚州成人

   

US death toll in Iraq worst in a year

(AP)
Updated: 2006-10-27 09:16

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The number of American troops killed in Iraq in October reached the highest monthly total in a year Thursday after four Marines and a sailor died of wounds suffered while fighting in the same Sunni insurgent stronghold.

The US military said 96 US troops have died so far in October, the most in one month since October 2005, when the same number was killed. The spike in deaths has been a major factor behind rising anti-war sentiment in the United States, fueling calls for President Bush to change tactics.

In other violence, 12 police officers were killed in fighting with suspected militia gunmen in Baqouba, northeast of Baghdad, officials said. Eighteen militants also were killed.

The deadliest month for US forces in Iraq was November 2004, when military offenses primarily in the then-insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, left 137 troops dead, 126 of them in combat. In January 2005, 107 US troops were killed.

Polls show a majority of Americans are opposed to Bush's handling of Iraq, and at a news conference in Washington on Wednesday, he indicated he shared the public's frustration even as he pushed back against calls for troop withdrawals.

"I know many Americans are not satisfied with the situation in Iraq," Bush said. "I'm not satisfied either."

Gen. William B. Caldwell, the US military spokesman, said there had been a marked decrease in violence in Baghdad since the end of Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting, earlier this week.

Caldwell said violence has in the past tended to spike during that month, then fall off. He also said it was possible increased U.S. patrols and roadblocks in the search of a missing American soldier could be having an effect.

"Everyone is asking this very same question ... whether this is occurring naturally or is it due to the fact that we in fact established and are conducting these additional operations," he said.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said the United States would increase its support for Iraqi security forces.

"We intend to increase their budgets," he said, as well as their capabilities, and officials will work to help make the improvements more quickly. He did not cite any figures.

Rumsfeld also said people ought to "just back off" and stop demanding specific benchmarks or timelines for progress in Iraq, saying it is just too difficult to predict when the Iraqis can take control of security.

Fighting continued Thursday with fresh clashes between Iraqi security forces and militia groups linked to major Shiite political parties, part of an ominous new trend adding to the violence wrought by the Sunni-led insurgency against US coalition forces and their Iraqi allies.

At least 12 policemen were killed in fighting near Baqouba pitting Iraqi security forces against gunmen of the Mahdi Army militia, who are loyal to fiery anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. At least 18 militants also were killed, said Ghassan al-Bawi, police chief of surrounding Diyala province.

Mahdi militiamen have flooded into the area 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, forcing large numbers of residents belonging to Iraq's Sunni Arab minority to flee their homes. Mahdi fighters killed scores of Sunnis in massacres last week in the nearby city of Balad, forcing U.S. troops to return to the area after Iraqi security forces were unable to stem the bloodshed.

The U.S. military said the five service members killed in volatile Anbar province included a sailor assigned to the 3rd Naval Construction Regiment. Two of the Marines were attached to Regimental Combat Team 5, and two others to Regimental Combat Team 7. All died from wounds suffered in attacks Wednesday in Anbar province, a hotbed of the Sunni insurgency.

According to Gen. George Casey, the top US commander in Iraq, about 300 Iraqi police and soldiers died during Ramadan, while altogether, more than 961 Iraqis have been killed in war-related violence this month, the highest level since The Associated Press began tracking civilian deaths in April 2005.

That amounts to an average of more than 41 each day, compared with a daily average of about 27 since April 2005, as more Iraqis fall prey to sectarian death squads affiliated with the militias.

The AP count includes civilians, government officials and police and security forces, and is considered a minimum based on AP reporting. The actual number is likely higher, as many killings go unreported. The United Nations has said 100 Iraqis are being killed each day.

 
 

Related Stories
 
主站蜘蛛池模板: 精品一区二区三区免费观看 | 久久久久久久久免费影院 | 欧美日韩一区二区三区视频 | 正在播放国产一区 | 美女黄网站色一级毛片 | 久久综合久久美利坚合众国 | 特黄a三级三级三级 | 亚洲乱人伦精品图片 | 91精品一区二区综合在线 | 成年免费a级毛片 | 成人国产精品免费视频不卡 | 欧美手机手机在线视频一区 | 自拍偷拍亚洲视频 | 特别福利视频在线观看 | 99久热在线精品视频观看 | 国产一区二区成人 | 性欧美精品久久久久久久 | 80日本xxxxxxxxx| 久久青草免费免费91线频观看 | 亚洲成人在线免费 | 久久精品国产只有精品6 | 波少野结衣在线播放 | 欧美毛片a级毛片免费观 | 国产精品三级一区二区 | 成人免费看片 | 欧美精品亚洲精品日韩专区 | 老师张开腿让我爽了一夜视频 | 久久综合99re88久久爱 | 国产自产v一区二区三区c | 97se亚洲综合在线韩国专区福利 | 亚洲成人黄色在线观看 | 国产三级a三级三级天天 | 97在线碰碰观看免费高清 | 91久久亚洲最新一本 | 韩国精品一区二区三区在线观看 | 精品中文字幕在线观看 | 黄页美女 | 国产在线a | 交视频在线观看国产网站 | 成在线人永久免费播放视频 | 欧美色成人tv在线播放 |