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Nine US soldiers killed in Baghdad blasts on Monday

Nine US soldiers died in explosions north of Baghdad, the US military announced yesterday after the deadliest single day for US troops in Iraq in nearly a month.

Six soldiers died when a bomb exploded on Monday near their vehicles during a combat operation in Salahuddin Province, the military said. Three others were wounded in the blast.

Another three soldiers died the same day in a roadside bomb attack in Diyala Province northeast of Baghdad.

Shiite pilgrims, too, came under attack as they streamed south, mostly on foot, toward a shrine in Karbala ahead of a weekend holiday. Police said at least 20 were killed yesterday in shootings and bombings along the way.

In Baghdad, US forces continued their push into Sadr City, home to 2.5 million of the city's poorest residents as well as fighters loyal to anti-US cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Some 600 US soldiers searched the neighborhood's northwest quadrant, knocking on doors and searching homes, an Associated Press reporter traveling with them said.

The US forces are seeking a "reconciliatory approach" to avoid sparking a backlash on the streets, Colonel Richard Kim said. One small gesture seemed to offer appreciation: a child offering soldiers ice cream bars.

Monday was "a very traumatic day" for US troops in Iraq, said Lieutenant Colonel Michael Donnelly, a spokesman for US forces in northern Iraq.

"Our hearts and prayers are with the families right now in their time of loss, and our resolve is stronger to accomplish our mission here," Donnelly said.

It was the deadliest day for Americans in Iraq since Feb. 7, when 11 troops were killed -- seven when their helicopter was shot down north of Fallujah and four others in combat operations.

The highest daily US death toll since the Iraq war began was Jan. 26, 2005, when 37 Americans died in attacks.

Both provinces where Monday's deaths occurred are Sunni-dominated. Late Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's clan hails from Salahuddin, and the late al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was hiding out in Diyala when he was killed by a US airstrike there last summer.

Violence has fallen in Baghdad, where a joint US-Iraqi security crackdown was in its third week. But US military officials say insurgents have fled the capital for outlying areas, where attacks are on the rise.
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