BAGHDAD, Jan. 21 At least 27 U.S. troops have been killed in Iraq during the weekend, reports say, even as more U.S. forces surged into Baghdad. The deadliest incident came Saturday afternoon when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed northeast of Baghdad, killing all 12 U.S. troops aboard. U.S. military officials initially said 13 were killed, but revised that figure Sunday, the Los Angeles Times reported.
There was no immediate word on why the Black Hawk went down.
In the Shiite city of Karbala, south of Baghdad, five U.S. soldiers were killed and three wounded when unknown assailants attacked with grenades, mortars and assault rifles, overrunning a regional security building, the Times said.
Five more U.S. troops and at least 59 Iraqis were killed or found dead Saturday and Sunday as coalition forces stepped up a push against Shiite and Sunni gunmen, the report said.
Four U.S. soldiers and a Marine were killed Sunday in Anbar province. Meanwhile, a British soldier was killed in an explosion in Basra.
The newest 3,200-soldier U.S. brigade should be ready by Feb. 1 as part of the Iraqi Baghdad Security Plan, a military official said in a statement. The U.S. military said 3,047 American soldiers have been killed in the Iraq war, including 46 in January, the Kuwaiti Agency reported.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
