WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 (Xinhuanet) -- The deaths of six US soldiers in Iraq Monday raised the US military death toll for October to 93, making it the most bloody month for US troops there since January, the US military said.
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| A US marine sniper fires at insurgents from a hideout on a rooftop near the town of al-Qaim at the Iraqi-Syrian border, in western Iraq. (AFP) | Pentagon Spokesman Di Rita attributed the increased deaths to "an adversary that continues to develop some sophistication on very deadly and increasingly precise standoff weapons."
Earlier, US military commanders had warned that insurgents would step up their attacks in the run-up to the Dec. 15 parliamentary election in Iraq.
Among the six soldiers died Monday, four were killed by a makeshift bomb in a place southwest of Baghdad while two other were killed in an explosion in Balad, north of Baghdad.
However, Di Rita said US forces now have a better way to deal with the bombs.
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| US marines fire mortars at insurgents from a position in the Iraqi-Syrian border town of Kusaiybah Oct. 27 in western Iraq. (AFP) |
"We're getting better at interrupting the enemy's decision cycle, and getting better intelligence that is allowing us to stop more of these things, find more of them," he claimed.
The Iraqi insurgents have been focusing on bombs since the beginning of this year with use of ever bigger, deadlier bombs and new techniques, such as "shaped" explosive charges capable of blowing through armored US vehicles..
The latest US deaths pushed the death toll for the month to its highest level since January when 107 US soldiers were killed.
The latest deaths also brought to 2,025 the number of US military personnel who have died since the Iraq war began in March 2003. Enditem |