U.S. soldier killed during combat patrol near Baghdad

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: A U.S. soldier was killed during a combat operation near the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Saturday, raising to nine the number of U.S. troops killed this month, according to the U.S. military. “A Multi-National Force (MNF) soldier was killed on Saturday (Feb. 21) during a combat patrol near Baghdad,” read a U.S. army release received by IraqiNews.com news agency. “The incident is being investigated,” the statement added, not giving more details about the site where the incident took place. The fatality raises to nine the number killed in February 2009, including three said to have been killed in non-combat incidents, four others killed in a suicide car bomb attack in Mosul on Monday (Feb. 9) and another one in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack. It also increases to 4246 the number of U.S. deaths in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion. Sixteen were killed in January 2009, including four in two helicopter crashes in Salah al-Din province. A total 486 U.S. soldiers were killed in 2003, going up in 2004 to reach 849 while 846 others were killed in 2005. In 2006, some 822 troops were killed while 2007 saw a record high of 904. The death toll went down dramatically in 2008 to reach 314. July 2007 was the month with the least number of U.S. deaths – 13, including two reported missing in May 2007 but their bodies were found on July 9, 2008. November 2004 is the record high month as 137 U.S. soldiers were killed in fierce battles with gunmen in the restive city of Baaquba, Diala province.   AmR (S)/SR 1