US forces suffer 3d deadliest day in Iraq war

BAGHDAD -- At least 20 US troops were killed across Iraq yesterday, including 13 in a helicopter crash and five who died in an insurgent attack in Karbala.

It was the deadliest day for the American military here in nearly two years and the third deadliest since the war began in March 2003.

The deadliest day for Americans service members in Iraq was Jan. 26, 2005, when 37 US troops were killed, 31 of them in the accidental crash of a Chinook helicopter in Anbar province. The second highest daily toll was on March 23, 2003, when 28 service members were killed as US forces were advancing toward Baghdad on the third day of the US-led invasion.

Yesterday's worst loss came from the crash of a US Army Blackhawk helicopter northeast of Baghdad that killed all 13 service members aboard. An attack last night blamed on militiamen in Karbala killed five soldiers. Roadside bombs killed another soldier in the capital and one in Nineveh Province north of Baghdad.

The US military also reported the deaths of two more troops the previous day.

The deaths come as Pentagon planners and the White House push forward with a plan to increase the number of US soldiers in Iraq by 21,500. At least 3,052 US service members have been killed and 22,000 wounded in Iraq since the American-led invasion almost four years ago.

US military officials said the cause of yesterday's helicopter crash has yet to be determined, but Iraqi sources said it was shot down. A witness said he saw ground fire bring down the aircraft, and an insurgent group claimed responsibility for the attack in an Internet posting that could not be authenticated.

Iraqi officials and witnesses said the crash took place near the town of Buhruz in the region of Tarefiya, a rural Sunni enclave of canals and wheat fields about six miles south of Baquba, the capital of Diyala province. The area is known as an insurgent stronghold. A recent joint US and Iraqi military offensive focused on Diyala province.

A message posted to the Internet by the Mujahideen Army, an insurgent group that operates out of Baghdad and Diyala provinces, claimed responsibility for the attack. It said the helicopter was downed by one of its antiaircraft missiles.

An Iraqi witness who spoke on condition of anonymity said the helicopter was felled by ground fire.

"I'm not sure if it was a rocket or other projectile," said the man, a farmer. "After the helicopter was fired upon, it was obvious that it was losing control. Then it crashed with an explosion and the smoke started." The farmer said he and others dared not approach the wreckage to look for survivors, fearing that US forces arriving on the scene might fire at them.

The US military could not confirm the account. Lieutenant Colonel Josslyn Aberle, a spokeswoman for the US military in Baghdad, said that the crash took place northeast of Baghdad at around 3 p.m.

"All passengers and crew were military service members," she wrote in response to an e-mail query, adding that more information was expected today. The military withheld names of the victims pending notification of family members.

An Iraqi official who spoke on condition of anonymity said US forces had cordoned off a vast area of farmland and sheep pastures.

The crash was the first since a US Marine CH-53 transport copter accidentally went down in Anbar Province on Dec. 11. Insurgents last shot down a helicopter May 14, near the village of Yusufiya south of the capital.

South of the capital in the Shi'ite city of Karbala, gunmen with grenades, mortars, and assault rifles swarmed a provincial security building manned by US and Iraqi forces, the military said. At least five US soldiers were killed and three wounded while repelling the attack.

The Karbala firefight erupted as US and Iraqi officials planned security for the Ashura festival, an annual Shi'ite pilgrimage that begins today. Karbala has come under the sway of Shi'ite militiamen loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, but it also is adjacent to Sunni Arab areas. A statement released by the military did not clarify whether the attackers were suspected Sunni or Shi'ite gunmen.

Forty-four Iraqis also were reported killed or found dead yesterday in politically motivated violence as Iraqi and American forces stepped up an effort to target Shi'ite militiamen and Sunni insurgents.

A soldier assigned to the First Cavalry Division near Mosul died Friday from injuries sustained from an improvised explosive device, the military said. Two soldiers were also injured in the bombing. And a Marine died of wounds he sustained in combat in Anbar province Friday.

American troops raided the capital's main emergency hospital yesterday morning, seizing the weapons of security guards believed to be linked to Sadr's al-Mahdi army militia, hospital and police officials said.

Iraqi forces said the US military seized AK-47s and machine guns ostensibly used by the guards to protect the facility .

One hospital employee said the Americans scoured the hospital seeking a specific person who allegedly belonged to the al-Mahdi army. They were not able to identify the individual, and the guards were released after being told they would face arrest if they were seen with weapons again, Iraqi officials at the hospital said.

Material from the Associated Press was included in this report.