Third-deadliest day of war for U.S. troops

updated 3:37 a.m. ET Jan. 21, 2007

BAGHDAD, Iraq - At least 19 U.S. troops were killed in Iraq on Saturday, the deadliest day for American forces in two years and at a time of building congressional opposition to President Bush's decision to dispatch of more than 20,000 additional soldiers to the conflict.

The Saturday toll was the third highest of any day since the war began in March 2003, eclipsed only by 37 U.S. deaths on Jan. 26, 2005, and 28 on the third day of the U.S. invasion.

Saturday's carnage included 12 service members killed in a helicopter crash northeast of the capital, five in a militia attack on a provincial government center in Karbala and two others in roadside bombings.

The military said the helicopter crashed northeast of Baghdad but gave no other specifics, except to say the incident was under investigation.

Army Lt. Col. Josslyn Aberle, a military spokeswoman in Baghdad, said the cause of the crash was not known. Navy Capt. Frank Pascual, a military spokesman in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, said the craft was a Blackhawk helicopter and was believed to have suffered technical troubles before going down. He spoke to Al-Arabiya satellite television from its Dubai studios.

A bomb struck a small bus headed to a predominantly Shiite area in Baghdad on Sunday, killing six passengers and wounding 10, police said.

The bus was en route from the Bab al-Sharqi area to the nearby commercial district of Karradah when the explosion occurred, shattering the windows of nearby stores.

The bomb was left in a bag by somebody who got off the bus, police said, giving the casualty toll.

Sirens wailed as police and ambulances rushed to the area, and rescue workers pulled the badly burned bodies from the charred bus.

Three wounded in Karbala attack
In the Karbala attack, the military said in a statement that "an illegally armed militia group" attacked the provincial headquarters building with grenades, small arms and "indirect fire," which usually means mortars or rockets. The statement said three soldiers were wounding repelling the attack.

"A meeting was taking place at the time of the attack to ensure the security of Shiite pilgrims participating in the Ashoura commemorations," said Brig. Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, deputy commander for Multi-National Division-Baghdad.

Karbala is 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Baghdad and thousands of Shiite pilgrims are flocking to the city to mark the festivities surround the commemoration of the death of one of Shiite Islam's most sacred saints, Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.

Brooks said the meeting was in the Provincial Joint Coordination Center in the city when the attack occurred. Iraqi officials and security forces as well as U.S. troops were present.

Earlier Saturday, Karbala governor Akeel al-Khazaali had said the U.S. troops raided the provincial headquarters looking for wanted men but left with no prisoners, apparently unable to find their target.

Brooks said that report was incorrect.

"Initial reporting by some media outlets indicated falsely that the attack was conducted by Coalition forces," the military statement said.

"The PJCC is a coordination center where local Iraqi officials, Iraqi security forces and Coalition forces (are) stationed within the center meet to address the security needs of the population," according to Brooks.

Al-Khazaali had said the American troops used stun grenades during the raid, causing people living nearby to report the building was under mortar attack. Residents reached by telephone speculated the raiding Americans were after followers of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and said helicopters were seen flying over the main al-Sadr headquarters in Karbala well past nightfall.

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The military statement did not mention other casualties in the attack, but said "the location has been secured by coalition and Iraqi security forces."

The helicopter crash and the Karbala attack occurred in a critical period for American forces and as an additional 21,500 troops began to arrive in Baghdad and surrounding regions.  President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki have vowed to curb the sectarian slaughter gripping the capital in what could be a last-ditch attempt to prevent Iraq from sliding into all-out civil war.

While the military did not say precisely where the crash occurred, the roiling and extremely violent Diyala Province sits northeast of Baghdad, where U.S. and Iraqi forces have been battling Sunni insurgents and Shiite militia forces around the city of Baqouba for months.

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