A devastating suicide car bombing on Monday killed nine American soldiers near a patrol base in Diyala Province, the military announced early Tuesday morning.
It was one of the most lethal suicide bomb attacks on American troops in Iraq. Another occurred on Dec. 21, 2004, when a suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest walked into a mess tent on an American base in Mosul and detonated his charge, killing 14 United States soldiers.
The above is from Alissa J. Rubin's "9 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Suicide Bombing in Iraq" in this morning's New York Times. Rubin notes 20 more were wounded. ICCC puts the number of US service members killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war at 3332. Here's the US military on the wounded:
Twenty Soldiers and one Iraqi civilian were wounded when a suicide vehicle born IED attacked the patrol base. Twelve Soldiers were returned to duty after initial medical care, and eight Soldiers and the Iraqi civilian were evacuated to a Coalition Forces' medical treatment facility for further care. Three of those Soldiers were later returned to duty.
AP thus far isn't an offering a count. As we've noted before, if AP doesn't offer a count many news outlets won't either (since so many depend on AP's count). Here's one version of AP's story that notes violence today:
Elsewhere, gunmen stormed a house south of Baghdad at dawn, going room to room and killing seven relatives while they were still in their beds, police and neighbors said. The attack occurred in the mostly Shiite village of Jaara, less than 25 miles south of Baghdad.
Also Tuesday, gunmen disguised as Iraqi soldiers raided a remote village near the city of Baqouba on Tuesday, killing six people, wounding 15, and burning five homes, police said.
Reuters count for US service members killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war is 3333. They also offer a list of past "deadliest days" for US service members. Ibon Villelabeitia and Dean Yates report for Reuters on the attack:
At least 86 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq this month, making April the deadliest since December, when 112 were killed.
At least 3,333 U.S. soldiers have been killed since the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
The military said 15 of the wounded troops in Diyala returned to duty after medical treatment. One Iraqi civilian was also wounded.
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the new york times
alissa j. rubin
[Note: Heading corrected. 9, as noted in the text, not 0. My apologies.]
