U.S. Sends Another 9,000 Troops To Iraq

(RFE/RL) April 2, 2007 -- The Pentagon says it will send another 9,000 U.S. troops to Iraq, with about half of them returning to combat ahead of schedule.

It says the move aims at maintaining troop levels in a security crackdown in Baghdad through at least August.

The Pentagon has increased force levels in Iraq by about 30,000 troops in an attempt to regain control of security and reduce sectarian violence.

The U.S. military announced today that six of its soldiers were killed in two separate bombings on March 31 and April 1 in Baghdad.

A British soldier was killed today, the second one to be killed in two days.

Deadly Attacks

At least 56 people were killed in different incidents in Iraq in a 24-hour period from April 1-2.

A suicide truck bomber targeted a police station in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk today, killing at least 11 and wounding dozens, including children from a nearby school.

In other violence, the bodies of 19 civilians kidnapped by gunmen at a fake checkpoint on April 1 have been found near Baq'ubah, north of Baghdad. All had been shot.

Meanwhile, reports say 18 Iraqi journalists were killed and 19 others seized by militants in the first quarter of 2007.

(Reuters, AP, AFP)