Today's Washington Post reports:
"Four US soldiers were killed in two rocket attacks in Baghdad on Monday as clashes between US-backed Iraqi forces and Shiite militiamen intensified, the military said.
"Three soldiers were killed about 1 pm in eastern Baghdad, where fighters loyal to anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have battled US and Iraqi troops. The fourth American soldier was killed at 4:15 p.m. in the western part of the capital, a US military spokesman said. The military provided few other details about the attacks."
"The deaths marked one of the deadliest days for U.S. troops in Iraq since Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki launched an offensive against Shiite militias in the southern city of Basra in late March, prompting retaliation there and in the vast Shiite district of Sadr City in Baghdad. Forty-four U.S. troops have died in Iraq in April, according to iCasualties.org, which tracks military fatalities, more than any month since September.
"Also Monday, militiamen launched a mortar and rocket attack against a combat outpost in Sadr City shortly after several top military officials, including Brig. Gen. William F. Grimsley, had visited. Fifteen U.S. soldiers were injured in the attack, none seriously, said Lt. Col. Steve Stover, a U.S. military spokesman....
"Elsewhere, U.S. soldiers aboard helicopters and an Abrams tank killed at least seven people in eastern Baghdad on Monday, the U.S. military said." (Washington Post)
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