2 U.S. pilots killed in hard landing

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Two U.S. army pilots have been killed when their helicopter experienced a hard landing in Salah al-Din, the U.S. army said on Monday. “The names of the deceased are being withheld pending notification of next of kin and release by the Department of Defense,” according to a U.S. army statement received by IraqiNews.com news agency. The incident, which occurred yesterday, is under investigation, the statement added. The death brings to 4,355 the number of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, including 134 killed in 2009. Ten were killed in September and seven in August, the record monthly lowest number of U.S. deaths since 2003. July 2009, which saw U.S. combat troops pulling out of Iraqi cities, registered eight deaths. U.S. fatalities began to decrease since the beginning of 2009: sixteen soldiers were killed in January, 17 in February and nine in March. The death toll, however, grew in April to reach 19 and then to 25 in May, including five shot down by a fellow soldier in a shooting incident inside a camp near the Baghdad International Airport. Fifteen were killed in June, including five in “non-combat” incidents. Some 486 U.S. soldiers were killed in 2003, 849 in 2004, 846 in 2005, 822 in 2006 and a record high of 904 in 2007. The toll went down dramatically in 2008 to reach 314. Still, November 2004, the month that saw fierce clashes between U.S. forces and gunmen in the restive city of Falluja, Diala province, is the month with the highest U.S. deaths: 137. SS (S) 1