The killings of three American troops in separate attacks in Baghdad pushed the U.S. death toll for April up to 47, making it the deadliest month since September. One soldier died when his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb. The other died of wounds sustained when he was attacked by small-arms fire, the military said Wednesday. Both incidents occurred Tuesday in northwestern Baghdad.
A third soldier died in a roadside bombing Tuesday night in the east of the capital, the military said, according to the AP.
In all, at least 4,059 members of the U.S. military have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
The increase in the death toll is connected to the latest fighting which erupted at the end of March between American and Iraqi forces and Shiite militiamen loyal to Muqtada al Sadr.
The violence in Sadr City continued overnight with the destruction of a school in the district. Locals said the school was the target of an airstrike on Tuesday evening. An official at the local hospital said two people were killed and 16 wounded overnight in Sadr City. He said this brought the death toll in the district since Tuesday to 31, with 107 wounded.
