12 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq Over Past Three Days

The American death toll is now reported at 3,493, since the war began in March 2003.

Recent fighting in Baghdad Photo courtesy: DoD

(BAGHDAD, Iraq.) - The death toll over the last three days in Iraq has been heavy for U.S. soldiers. 14 Americans have been killed in the last three days, government sources told The Associated Press Sunday.

It is reported that one soldier died Friday when he approached two suspicious men for questioning that were standing by a mosque. One of the men was an apparent suicide bomber. He blew himself up and also killed the soldier who had approached him.

Seven American troops were killed in Iraq Saturday in a series of attacks and clashes.

Four U.S. soldiers were killed today as they were conducting a cordon and search operation in an area northwest of Baghdad. It is not clear how many of the deaths in the last three days were related to an ongoing search for two American soldiers captured by terrorists after an attack in Iraq on May 12th.

As part of an earlier search for the missing soldiers, Iraqi soldiers say they killed two insurgents linked to al Qaeda in Iraq and detained two other suspected insurgents southwest of Balad Air Base during an early-morning raid Friday.

In addition to the American military deaths over the past three days, two Multi-National Division soldiers were killed in Baghdad and five were wounded as was an Iraqi interpreter, the military said.

The AP says the death toll in Iraq includes at least 3,493 members of the U.S. military who have died since the war began in March 2003.