LOC21:07
18:07 GMT
BAGHDAD, May 1 (KUNA) -- A US soldier serving with the Multi-National Force
(MNF) was killed when a booby-trapped vehicle was remotely-detonated, hitting
his patrol in midtown Baghdad, the MNF said Thursday.
No further details were given, and the name of the deceased was being
withheld pending notification of next of kin and release by the US Department
of Defense.
The death toll among US soldiers since March 2003 thus comes to 4,064. In
April alone, the death toll came to 51 soldiers, the highest since September
of 2007.
The killed soldier is the first US soldier to be added to the month of May
casualties' list.
November of 2004 was the bloodiest for the coalition, with 137 soldiers
killed in clashes between US forces and armed factions in the city of Fallujah
in Al-Anbar province.
To that, Premier Nouri Al-Maliki said earlier today that the Iraqi Army
will soon carry out a military operation to hunt down "criminals" at al-Sadr
City eastern Baghdad.
In a statement issued here, Al-Maliki urged insurgents to surrender their
weapons and stop fiddling with citizens' safety.
He also called on religious figures of the City to contribute in
establishing the rule of law in collaboration with local security authorities.
Meanwhile, in Irbil northern Iraq, two Iraqi soldiers were killed due to an
improvised explosive device hitting their patrol at al-Islah al-Zira'ee
neighborhood western Mosul, an Iraqi police source told KUNA.
Furthermore, a man and two women, all from the same family, were killed
when unknown gunmen stormed their house, the source added.
According to an intelligence report, two on the wanted list, including a
leader of the al-Qaeda-affiliated "The Islamic State of Iraq" were arrested
after a search and storming operation was conducted at the left side of Mosul,
the source said.
He noted that Mosul police had also released 166 detainees according to an
official pardon.
Also in Mosul, the US Army said in a statement that it began recruiting
scores of Christian men, who lined up to join the Iraqi Police force in Tall
Kayf, 15 kilometers north of Mosul.
The goal of the three-day event, which began last Monday, was to recruit up
to 700 Christians to join the police force to help protect their respective
communities in Mosul, a statement by the army said, adding that the recruiting
drive would help bolster the economy through employment, in addition to
bolstering the security effort. (pickup previous)
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