More US soldiers killed in Iraq

Six more American soldiers have been killed in Iraq, officials said today, pushing the US military death toll to at least 2,978 – five more than the number killed in the September 11, 2001 terror attacks.

The milestone came with the deaths of three soldiers yesterday and three more today in roadside bomb attacks near Baghdad, the military said.

The deaths raised the number of troops killed to 2,978 since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes at least seven military civilians. The September 11, 2001 attacks claimed 2,973 victims in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

Five of the soldiers were killed when bombs exploded near their vehicles, and another died on a foot patrol, the military said. Four soldiers were wounded in the incidents.

Of the total, at least 2,377 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military.

Today, two roadside bombs targeted an Iraqi police patrol in eastern Baghdad, killing four policemen – including a lieutenant colonel – and injuring 12 people, police said. Three parked car bombs killed three people and wounded 10 others in a western neighbourhood of the capital, they said.

The US military said it killed three insurgents in an exchange of fire near Samsiyah in western Iraq. Troops discovered rocket-propelled grenade launchers, assault rifles and mine components at the scene, the military said in a statement.

US-led troops also captured the suspected leader of a murder and kidnapping cell near Baghdad, the military said.

British soldiers were on alert for reprisals a day after they raided a police station in the southern city of Basra, killing seven gunmen in an effort to stop renegade Iraqi officers from executing their prisoners.

“We fully expect more attacks on our bases and on Basra stations, but that’s nothing out of the ordinary,” Major Charlie Burbridge said today.

“But this is part of a long-term rehabilitation of the Iraqi police service, to make it more effective and more accountable, and ultimately provide better security for the people of Basra.”

After the British stormed the police station, they removed 127 prisoners, who showed evidence of torture, then evacuated the building before blowing it up, he said.

Maj Burbridge had previously said only 76 prisoners were in the station, but later said soldiers miscounted the prisoners because the operation was done under cover of darkness.

Some 800 of the British military’s 7,200 troops in Iraq were involved in the operation, he said.

The operation showed how closely aligned some police units are with militias and death squads – and the challenges coalition forces face as they transfer authority for security to Iraqis. British officials hope to transfer Basra province to Iraqis by late spring, Maj Burbridge said.

A spokesman for Iraq’s defence minister said yesterday that the Iraqi interior and defence ministries approved the Basra operation, but some members of the Basra provincial council said they were not notified.

“We object to the way the operation was conducted... There was no need to bring in such a huge number of forces and break down the station,” council member Hakim al-Maiyahi told The Associated Press.

Maj Burbridge acknowledged the council members’ concerns, but said British officials had alerted the provincial governor, Mohammed al-Waili, who approved the operation.

“He told us it was the right thing, the way forward. He supported our activity,” Maj Burbridge said.

Mr al-Waili refused to comment on the matter.

US Army Lt Gen Martin Dempsey, who is in charge of training Iraqi forces, said in Washington last week that efforts were under way to weed out Iraqi national police believed to be sympathetic to the militias.

Up to a quarter are thought to be aligned with the militias, which are engaged in sectarian violence.

The establishment of a viable Iraqi police force is vital to the US-led coalition’s goal of handing responsibility for security to Iraqis, so foreign troops can return home.

In another sign of lawlessness in Basra, gunmen on Monday stole 740,000 US dollars from a bank about half a mile from the raided police station.

In Baghdad yesterday, police found 40 bodies, apparent victims of sectarian violence. A car bomb exploded beside a market and a suicide bomber struck a bus in separate attacks that killed 14 civilians and wounded at least 33.

In another sign of escalating diplomatic tensions between the US and Iran, the White House said yesterday that US troops in Iraq detained at least two Iranians and released two others who had diplomatic immunity.

US officials have charged that Iran provides training and other aid to Shiite militias in Iraq – including the equipment used to build roadside bombs. The Tehran regime says it only has political and religious links with Iraqi Shiites.

But Iran is believed to be expanding its shadowy role in Iraq, partly to counter US influence in the region.

In Baghdad, a spokesman for Iraqi President Jalal Talabani confirmed that US troops had detained two Iranians who were in Iraq at his invitation.

“The president is unhappy about it,” said Hiwa Osman, Talabani’s media adviser.

He gave no further details, and the US military said it had no comment.

“We suspect this event validates our claims about Iranian meddling, but we want to finish our investigation of the detained Iranians before characterising their activities,” White House spokesman Alex Conant said yesterday.

“We will be better able to explain what this means about the larger picture after we finish our investigation.”

He said that a routine raid on suspected insurgents netted the Iranians. Two had diplomatic immunity and were released to the Iraqi government, which then released them to Iran, he said.