Monthly U.S. Troop Deaths in Iraq Hit a Two-Year High

Despite the reduced number of U.S. troops in Iraq, the monthly death toll among Americans there has risen to a two-year high, reached when three soldiers were killed Wednesday in a rocket attack.

The latest deaths bring June’s U.S. fatalities to 15, a monthly total that hasn’t been seen since June 2009. Of those 15 deaths, 14 were combat-related, which is significant considering that the number of U.S. troops in Iraq is less than a third of what it was at the war’s peak. —BF

The Washington Post:

With American troop deaths in Iraq reaching a two-year high in June, U.S. military officials are fingering Iran for the violence, accusing an Iranian special forces unit of supporting the militia groups suspected of carrying out the attacks.

Three U.S. soldiers were killed Wednesday in a rocket attack at a U.S. base near the Iranian border, the military said, bringing the month’s death toll to 15 and marking the bloodiest month since 15 troops died here in June 2009, according to iCasualties.org, a Web site that tracks U.S. military deaths. Fourteen of the deaths were combat-related, the highest since 23 soldiers and Marines were killed in action in June 2008, the site said.

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AP / Drew Angerer

Soldiers carry a casket in Arlington National Cemetery.