WASHINGTON – At least nine Army and Marine reservists died in Iraq on the first full day of the Fallujah offensive, the highest single-day death toll for part-time troops since U.S. forces entered Iraq in March 2003.
Most of those killed since Monday in Fallujah, Baghdad, Mosul and other cities where insurgents are active have not been identified by military authorities, so it’s not possible to give a complete account beyond Monday.
Of the nine reservists killed Monday, six were members of the Marine Corps Reserve, two were Army National Guard and one was Army Reserve.
An Army National Guard soldier from California also was killed Sunday in Baghdad.
Nine is the highest number of part-time soldiers and Marines to have died in Iraq on a single day. The only comparable surge in deaths of reservists was in June 2004 when nine died in a four-day span, according to Pentagon records.
National Guard and Reserve troops have played a prominent role in Iraq from the start of combat in 2003, and their numbers have grown in recent months. They now make up more than 40 percent of the total U.S. force in Iraq.
In the Fallujah offensive alone, at least 18 U.S. troops had been killed in action and 178 wounded by Thursday, according to Maj. Gen. Richard Natonski, commander of the 1st Marine Division in Fallujah. Five Iraqi soldiers had been killed and 34 wounded, Natonski said.
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