3 more American servicemen die in Iraq, making month one of the deadliest of the war

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) Three more American servicemen have died in Iraq, the U.S. military said Thursday, putting December on track to be among the deadliest months of the year. <br/><br/>The surge in U.S.

Thursday, December 21st 2006, 10:17 am

By: News On 6

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) Three more American servicemen have died in Iraq, the U.S. military said Thursday, putting December on track to be among the deadliest months of the year.

The surge in U.S. combat deaths comes as Washington searches for new political and military strategies to contain the flood of violence, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates traveled to Baghdad talking to soldiers and Iraqi officials about the possibility of bolstering U.S. troop strength in Iraq.

The U.S. military said in a statement that a Marine assigned to 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division died Thursday in Anbar, the province west of Baghdad that is a hotbed for Iraq's insurgency. A soldier assigned to Regimental Combat Team 7 died on Tuesday, the statement reported.

A roadside bomb killed an American soldier Wednesday and wounded three others south of the Iraqi capital, the military said. The soldiers were in a convoy escorting servicemen to base.

As of Thursday, 71 American troops had been killed in December with 10 days left in the month _ meaning that it already ranks as one of the four deadliest months for U.S. forces this year.

If there is no letup in the violence, the number of deaths will reach or exceed the 105 killed in October, the deadliest month this year.

Meanwhile, attacks by deaths squads, bombers and others against Iraqi civilian and security targets continued Thursday.

A suicide bomber blew up in the midst of a group of police volunteers in eastern Baghdad early in the day, killing at least 14 people and wounded 21 others, police said. At least two of the dead were policemen.

The area around the facility remained cordoned off hours after the attack. Outside a nearby hospital, at least five bodies lay on gurneys and on the ground, covered in blue sheets as Baghdadis walked past.

Officials also announced the murder of Iraq's Olympic cycling coach, killed after gunmen kidnapped him from his home.

Family members identified the body of 48-year-old Mahoud Ahmed Fulayih at the central morgue in the capital on Monday, two days after he was abducted, said Hussein al-Amidi, the acting secretary general of Iraq's National Olympic Committee.

Fulayih's death was only the latest in a string of incidents where Iraqi athletes and coaches have been kidnapped or killed. In an attack in May, gunmen shot and killed the coach of Iraq's Olympic tennis team and two players.

Gates talked with Iraqi officials about possible additional military assistance and assured the government of continued U.S. support.

Briefing reporters after his session with Iraqi leaders, Gates said the focus of the discussions was ``mainly on the overall approach, including the possibility of some additional assistance.'' He was vague about the type of assistance discussed, and said no specific numbers of extra troops were discussed.

In other violence Thursday:

_ In the northern city of Mosul, gunmen killed five civilians in separate shootings.

_ The morgue in Kut, 25 miles south of the capital, received the bodies of five victims of violence. Two were decapitated, with hands and legs bound, and the other three were pulled from the Tigris river, a morgue official said.

_ Two women were killed and one child was injured when mortar rounds landed in a Shiite area south of Baghdad, police said.

_ A car bomb in Baghdad killed two civilians and wounded two others, police said.