A U.S. soldier was killed this morning south of Baghdad becoming the 15th U.S. soldier to die in the last eight days, the deadliest period since President Bush announced major combat to be over. Most of the soldiers have died since the U.S. assassinated the two sons of Saddam Hussein, Uday and Qusay. Five troops were killed on Saturday alone.
Today’s killing came as the U.S. intensified its hunt for former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The Associated Press reports the military has been raiding farmhouses near Tikrit and claim they came within 24 hours of capturing him.
But the search has not been without mistakes. The New York Times reports that a U.S. special ops team accidentally shot and killed up to five Iraqi civilians on Sunday.
In Karbala, hundreds protested Sunday against the U.S. at the Imam al-Hussein Shrine. They charged U.S. forces had shot a 51-year-old restaurant worker at the shrine, Iraq’s second-holiest site for Shi’ite Muslims.