Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/be2cda58-67ed-11db-90ac-0000779e2340.html
An announcement by the US military on Monday that a marine had been killed in the western province of Anbar sent US military fatalities in Iraq in October over the 100 mark, making the month the fourth-deadliest for the US military since the 2003 invasion.
This month’s death toll is surpassed only by those of April and November 2004, during the first and second assaults on the Sunni stronghold of Falluja, and in the run-up to the elections at the end of January 2005.
The holy month of Ramadan, which coincided with much of October, traditionally sees an upswing of violence, and US officials have suggested that insurgents may also have stepped up the violence prior to the November 7 US Congressional elections.
US troops have also taken a higher profile role as part of their campaign to secure Baghdad, taking on both Sunni insurgents and Shia militias. At least 42 of this month’s deaths happened in or around the capital.
At least another 33 were killed in the western province of Anbar, where cities like Ramadi and Haditha have been centres of guerrilla activity for over two years.
In addition to US forces’ higher profile, some insurgent groups are reported to have obtained sophisticated armour-piercing explosives, possibly supplied from Iran. US officers have also said that insurgent snipers have become more effective, and sniper attacks more numerous.
• A bomb blast ripped through a crowd of labourers in a square inBaghdad on Monday, killing 28 people and wounding 60, Iraqi Interior Ministry sources said. The bombing occurred as Shia labourers were lining up for day jobs in a square in Sadr City, a stronghold of radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who heads the powerful Mehdi Army militia. Reuters, Baghdad
An announcement by the US military on Monday that a marine had been killed in the western province of Anbar sent US military fatalities in Iraq in October over the 100 mark, making the month the fourth-deadliest for the US military since the 2003 invasion.
This month’s death toll is surpassed only by those of April and November 2004, during the first and second assaults on the Sunni stronghold of Falluja, and in the run-up to the elections at the end of January 2005.
The holy month of Ramadan, which coincided with much of October, traditionally sees an upswing of violence, and US officials have suggested that insurgents may also have stepped up the violence prior to the November 7 US Congressional elections.
US troops have also taken a higher profile role as part of their campaign to secure Baghdad, taking on both Sunni insurgents and Shia militias. At least 42 of this month’s deaths happened in or around the capital.
At least another 33 were killed in the western province of Anbar, where cities like Ramadi and Haditha have been centres of guerrilla activity for over two years.
In addition to US forces’ higher profile, some insurgent groups are reported to have obtained sophisticated armour-piercing explosives, possibly supplied from Iran. US officers have also said that insurgent snipers have become more effective, and sniper attacks more numerous.
• A bomb blast ripped through a crowd of labourers in a square inBaghdad on Monday, killing 28 people and wounding 60, Iraqi Interior Ministry sources said. The bombing occurred as Shia labourers were lining up for day jobs in a square in Sadr City, a stronghold of radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who heads the powerful Mehdi Army militia. Reuters, Baghdad