BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 30, 2007 — Ten American soldiers were killed in roadside bombings and a helicopter crash on Memorial Day in Iraq, making May — at 113 fatalities — the third deadliest month of the war.
Six of the U.S. soldiers were killed in an insurgent roadside bomb ambush as they raced to rescue two others, who died in a helicopter crash. The military did not say if the helicopter was shot down or had mechanical problems. All eight died in Diyala province north of the capital.
“We know that the helicopter had received ground fire, but do not know yet the cause of the helicopter going down,” Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said.
Two other American troopers died Monday in a roadside bombing in south Baghdad, the military said.
On Tuesday, gunmen in police uniforms and driving vehicles used by security forces kidnapped five Britons from an Iraqi Finance Ministry office.
About 40 heavily armed men snatched the five Britons from an annex and sped away in a convoy of 19 four-wheel-drive vehicles toward Sadr City, the Mahdi Army stronghold not far away, according to the British Foreign office in London and Iraqi officials in the Interior and Finance ministries.
