December deadliest month for US in Iraq in 2 yrs

Baghdad, Dec 31: December became the deadliest month for UStroops in Iraq in two years after the US military reported six morecombat deaths, leaving the tally just two short of the emotive 3,000mark.

Three US marines died on Thursday from wounds suffered in combatin Iraq's western Anbar province. One soldier was killed by a roadsidebomb in northwest Baghdad and another soldier was killed in Anbar onFriday, the military said today.

Another statement announced the death of a US soldier killed by a roadside bomb in southwest Baghdad yesterday.

The latest deaths take the number of US military deaths in Iraqsince the invasion of March 2003 to 2,998, according toicasualties.org, a Web site that tracks US deaths in Iraq andAfghanistan.

The number who died in December is now 109, three more than theprevious high this year in October, and the highest since November 2004when 137 US servicemen and women died.

Mounting US casualties are raising pressure on US President GeorgeW Bush to set a timetable for the withdrawal of troops from theincreasingly unpopular war.

Reuters