BAGHDAD, January 8 – It has been a sad weekend indeed for the U.S. military troops in Iraq. In total 17 U.S. citizens were killed this weekend while already a dozen died during the week in one of the bloodiest periods since the National Assembly elections.
Twelve U.S. soldiers are believed to have been on board of a Black Hawk helicopter that crashed around Saturday midnight. The crash site is just a few miles shy of Tal Afar, which used to be an insurgent stronghold near the Syrian border. The helicopter was part of a team providing communication between bases when other means failed.
In separate incidents three U.S. Marines died while engaged in enemy combat, likely small-arms fire. This all happened in Fallujah, just 40 miles from Baghdad. Two other U.S. Marines died in two separate roadside bombings on Saturday.
