Nine American troops died by a blast north of Baghdad on Monday, the U.S. military said on Tuesday.
According to Reuters, three other troops were injured after an explosion went off near their vehicles in the province of Salahaddin, the military said in a statement.
More than 3,170 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.
Attacks on Shiite pilgrims
Meanwhile, At least 118 Shiite pilgrims were slaughtered in attacks across Iraq on Tuesday.
The deadliest single attack was when two suicide bombers blew themselves up in a crowd of Shiite pilgrims streaming toward a shrine south of Baghdad, killing up to 90 people, police said. The coordinated attack was reported on a main street in Hillah, about 60 miles south of Baghdad, said Capt. Muthana Khalid. More than 150 others were injured in the explosions, he said.
At least 20 Shiites died on their trek southward Tuesday toward Karbala, where they would mark the end of a 40-day mourning period after the death of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson.
The deadliest attack was in the south Baghdad neighborhood of Dora, where gunmen pumped bullets into a minibus, killing all eight passengers inside, police said. A car bomb nearby killed two others hours later, they said.
On Monday, a suicide car bomber attacked a book market in Baghdad. At least 38 people died in the blast and seven pilgrims were killed. But the final casualty count may not be clear until Tuesday. Fire crews still battled the blazes more than 12 hours after the attack, said civil defense Maj. Gen. Abdul Rasoul al-Zaidi.
