Eight US troops killed in Iraq in 24 hours

 Source: alalalm.ir, 11-03-2008
BAGHDAD-A roadside bomb killed three US soldiers and an interpreter in the Iraqi province of Diyala Monday, the same day a bomber killed five US soldiers in Baghdad, the US military said Tuesday.
The bombing in Baghdad, which the US military had confirmed on Monday, was the worst single attack on US forces in the capital in nearly nine months.
The deaths took to 3,982 the number of US troops killed in Iraq since the U.S. invasion of the country in March 2003.
Ten US troops have been killed this month, compared to 81 in the whole of March 2007.
Six Iraqi civilians and an Iraqi interpreter were also wounded in the explosion, the US military said in a statement.
It said that the soldiers were walking down a street when a bomber wearing an explosives vest approached them and blew himself up.
"A bomber wearing an explosive vest blew himself against a dismounted US patrol," Iraqi army spokesman Major General Qasim Ata said.
"The attack left six Iraqi civilians wounded, and caused some casualties among the American troops."
An Iraqi army soldier whose trouser was drenched in blood after helping carry the victims said he rushed to help with his comrades after hearing the explosion.
"We rushed on the spot and saw six casualties ... five Americans were killed and one translator was wounded," said the soldier, speaking on condition of anonymity.
At least 29 US troops were killed in Iraq in February.
The US death toll is approaching 4,000 at a time when setting a timetable for withdrawing troops has become a central issue in the US presidential election campaign.
Some 2,000 US soldiers are being withdrawn from Baghdad under a Pentagon plan to pull out five brigades by July 31.