Twenty-one soldiers killed in Iraq in one 24 hour period:
BAGHDAD, Iraq — A helicopter crash killed 13 U.S. troops Saturday and eight other American deaths were reported in separate attacks, bringing a sharp spike in casualties as the first troops in an increase ordered by President Bush began to arrive.
The cause of the helicopter crash was not disclosed by late Saturday, though hostile action was not ruled out. A brief military announcement stated only that all 13 passengers and crew had died when their helicopter went down northeast of the capital.
Late Saturday, the military announced that five U.S. soldiers were killed and three wounded when insurgents attacked a meeting of American and Iraqi soldiers at a command center in Karbala, a southern Shiite city that has been considered one of the less violent areas of Iraq.
The military said the troops died trying to repel the attack, which consisted of grenades, rifle fire and indirect fire, usually meaning rockets or mortars.
In addition, the military reported that a soldier in Baghdad had been killed Saturday by a roadside bomb. On Friday, a Marine was killed in western Anbar province by what was listed only as enemy action, and a soldier near the northern city of Mosul died from a roadside bomb.
The 21 newly reported U.S. military deaths brought the total to at least 45 in January, which had seen troop fatalities at a much lower rate than the 115 who died in December. At least 3,048 service members have died since the war began.
Nothing more to say, really. My most inadequate condolences to their families, loved ones and friends.
