WASHINGTON – U.S. deaths in Iraq this month are approaching 100, making it the second-deadliest month since American forces invaded the country in March 2003, Pentagon records show.
The worst month was April, with 135 deaths, when the insurgency intensified and U.S. Marines fought fierce battles in Fallujah, only to be withdrawn from the city. That was part of a failed attempt to put the now-defunct Fallujah Brigade of U.S. and allied Iraqi forces in charge.
Until now the second-deadliest month was November 2003 with 82 deaths. Eighty Americans died in May and September this year.
Most of the deaths this month have been in the Fallujah offensive that began Nov. 7. A Marine officer said Monday that 37 Marines and soldiers had been killed in the Fallujah offensive, plus one nonbattle death. He said 320 had been wounded. American estimates of the number of insurgents killed in the offensive range from 1,000 to about 1,200.
An exact and fully current count of U.S. deaths is difficult to obtain because of time lags between the military’s initial reporting of attacks and the subsequent identification of the individual casualties.
As of Tuesday, the Pentagon said 1,210 U.S. service members have died in Iraq since the conflict began 20 months ago.
Because of the heavy fighting in Fallujah and the insurgents’ apparent attempts to respond with stepped-up attacks elsewhere, this month also is seeing one of the highest wounded totals. The number of wounded jumped by nearly 500 this week, according to Pentagon figures released Tuesday.
Since the start of the war, 8,956 U.S. service members have been wounded.
Associated Press
Members of the Kansas National Guard carry Spc. Don Clary’s casket into a cemetery outside Troy, Kan., on Tuesday. Clary, 21, of Troy was killed Nov. 8 in a car bombing in Iraq.
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