16 killed in Iraq violence

Three bombs killed 13 Iraqis in Baghdad today, and the US military announced the deaths of three American soldiers.

Iraqi forces backed by US troops captured an al Qaida in Iraq terror cell leader south of Baghdad, the US military said today.

The suspect, who was detained on Tuesday, is believed responsible for kidnapping two American soldiers from a checkpoint in June, the military said in a statement. The soldiers were later found tortured and murdered.

Two bombs exploded shortly after 10am opposite a park in the South Gate area, killing nine civilians and wounding 43, a police officer said. South Gate is often crowded with commuters and shoppers.

A bomb planted under a car killed two civilians and wounded eight others near al-Sha’ab stadium in eastern Baghdad, police said.

Another blast targeted a police patrol in western Baghdad but missed, killing two civilians instead, police said. Four others were wounded and taken to Yarmouk Hospital.

The US military said three US soldiers died in roadside bombings yesterday. Two soldiers were killed when a bomb exploded near their foot patrol south-west of Baghdad, and one died in a bombing in an eastern section of the Iraqi capital.

With 98 American troops dead so far this month, December is the second-deadliest month of 2006 for US military personnel. A total of 105 troops died in October.

“This has been a difficult month for coalition forces,” Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, a spokesman for US forces in Iraq, said yesterday.

“And the month is not over yet,” Caldwell said. “Our deepest condolences to those families and friends who’ve lost someone near and dear to them.”

At least 2,986 members of the US military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 2,391 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military’s numbers.