KEY POINTS:
BAGHDAD - A group linked to al Qaeda, the Islamic State of Iraq, claimed responsibility for two suicide truck bombs that killed nine United States soldiers and wounded 20 in Diyala province.
The US military said that only one truck had exploded at a patrol base of the 82nd Airborne Division. The deaths bring to 85 the number of US soldiers killed this month - higher than the total in each of the previous three months. Since 2003, 3332 US soldiers have died. Many of the 24,314 wounded suffered severe injuries that would have killed them in previous wars but for advances in medicine.
US losses have been surprisingly steady over the last three years with 849 US soldiers killed in 2004, 846 in 2005, 822 in 2006 and 329 this year. But US strategy since the start of its "surge" in Baghdad on February 14 has been to make greater use of US troops and give less priority to training Iraqi forces. This is likely to lead to an increase in US casualties.
- INDEPENDENT
