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2 Attacks Kill 9 U.S. Troops As Iraq Offensive Begins

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By CHRISTOPHER CHESTER, The Associated Press

Published: January 10, 2008

BAGHDAD - Nine U.S. soldiers were killed in the first two days of a new offensive to root out al-Qaida in Iraq fighters holed up in districts north of the capital, the U.S. military reported Wednesday.

The losses came as many militants fled U.S. and Iraqi forces massing in Diyala, a province of palm and citrus groves that has defied the trend toward lower violence. The campaign's scope is nationwide but is mainly focused on gaining control of Diyala and its most important city, Baqouba, which al-Qaida has declared the capital of its self-styled Islamic caliphate.
Six soldiers were killed and four were wounded Wednesday in a booby-trapped house in Diyala, the U.S. command said. It also announced that three U.S. soldiers were killed and two wounded in an attack Tuesday in Salahuddin province, north of Diyala.

The toll marked some of the deadliest days for U.S. forces in Iraq since last fall. For all December, 23 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq.

The blows against U.S. troops came as extremists tried to stay ahead of the military advance. Al-Qaida fighters retreated north from Diyala, presumably to Salahuddin, before the offensive began Tuesday, the top U.S. commander in northern Iraq, Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, said in Baghdad.

"Operational security in Iraq is a problem," he said, noting that the Iraqi army uses unsecured cell phones and radios. "I'm sure there is active leaking of communication."

Hertling said his troops had killed 20 to 30 insurgents in the first two days of the operation.

Only Baghdad province has been deadlier than Diyala the past two years, according to an Associated Press count.

Although violence has declined during the past six months in Baghdad and many other places in Iraq, much of Diyala has remained a killing field. At least 273 civilians were slain in Diyala last month, compared with 213 in June. During the same span, monthly civilian deaths in Baghdad dropped from 838 to 182.

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