U.S. troop fatalities in Iraq grow by six

BAGHDAD -- The American military announced Sunday the deaths of six troops killed in five separate combat incidents around Iraq, bringing to at least 10 the number of U.S. service members killed in the country over the weekend.

At least 85 U.S. troops were killed in the first 22 days of October, making the month already the deadliest for the U.S. military in Iraq since November 2005.

Two soldiers were killed just before noon Sunday when Sunni Arab insurgents opened fire on their patrol in west Baghdad. A third soldier died 90 minutes later when his vehicle struck a roadside bomb in west Baghdad. One more U.S. soldier was killed by small-arms fire in southwest Baghdad about half an hour later, the military said.

The military released no further information about the incidents.

The military also announced Sunday that a soldier assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division was killed Saturday and three others were wounded in Salahuddin, a mostly Sunni province north of the capital that includes Saddam Hussein’s hometown.

And it was further announced Sunday by the military that a Marine assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5 died Saturday of injuries sustained in Al Anbar province.

At least 2,798 U.S. troops have died in the 3 1/2 -year-old Iraq war.

U.S. forces launched airstrikes against suspected insurgents reportedly placing roadside bombs on the southern outskirts of the capital early Sunday. The American attacks killed five people and injured one, a news release said.