U.S. Deaths in Iraq Up This Month

U.S. Deaths are way up this month, making April the deadliest month so far this year, and making April one of the deadliest months overall.

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Deadly Month for U.S. Soldiers in Iraq

3 U.S. Soldiers and 27 Iraqis Killed As Politicians Begin Work on New Government

By LEE KEATH
BAGHDAD, Iraq Apr 24, 2006 (AP)— Insurgents killed three American soldiers in the Baghdad area Sunday and fired mortars near the Defense Ministry in a spree of violence that killed at least 29 Iraqis as politicians began work on forming a new government.
The largest Sunni Arab party raised new allegations of sectarian killings one of the most urgent issues facing the new leadership.

U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the next government must decommission sectarian militias and integrate them into the national armed forces, warning that the armed groups represent the "infrastructure for civil war."

Sunday's deaths raised to eight the number of U.S. troops killed in the past two days.
At least 61 American service members have died in April, putting it on track to pass January with 62 as the deadliest month this year. It represents a jump over March, which with 31 deaths was the lowest monthly toll for the Americans since February 2004.
On Monday, a car bomb exploded in a busy area of central Baghdad, killing at least three people and wounding 25, police said.

The parked car exploded during morning rush hour on a major street in the Bag al-Muadim section of Baghdad, close to one of the capital's largest hospitals, a complex of government buildings, a bus station and a traffic roundabout.

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