Deadly 48 hours in Iraq claims 12 from U.S. and Britain

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Four British soldiers and a civilian translator were killed in an ambush Thursday and the U.S. military announced the deaths of eight of its soldiers in an unusually bloody 48 hours for Western forces in Iraq.

A U.S. helicopter, meanwhile, went down south of Baghdad, injuring four of the nine personnel aboard, the military said. The cause of the incident and type of aircraft were not announced. The U.S. military said it had launched an investigation and provided no further details.

At least nine American choppers have crashed or been shot down this year, raising concerns that insurgents may be becoming more effective at targeting aircraft. The frequency of flights also could be contributing to the toll, as the military relies heavily on aircraft to ferry troops and equipment to avoid the danger of roadside bombs.

The British troops were searching for a weapons cache in downtown Basra before dawn Thursday when they came under attack with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire, said Lt. Col. Kevin Stratford-Wright, a military spokesman in the southern oil port city.

The troops repelled the attack and thought at least one of their assailants was killed, he said.

As they returned to base, the troops were hit by the blast from a roadside bomb and came under small-arms fire on the western side of the city. The bomb ripped through a Warrior fighting vehicle, killing five occupants and seriously injuring a sixth, Stratford-Wright said. Two other people sustained minor wounds.

It was the deadliest assault on British forces since Nov. 12, when four military personnel were killed on a patrol boat on the Shatt al-Arab waterway. The latest deaths raised to 140 the number of British troops killed in Iraq since the start of the war in March 2003.

Iraq developments

Guard moves: Several National Guard brigades are expected to be notified soon that they could be sent to Iraq around the first of next year, according to a senior Defense Department official. If Defense Secretary Robert Gates ultimately approves their assignment, it would be the first time full Guard combat brigades were sent back to Iraq for a second tour. The units would serve as replacement forces in the regular unit rotation for the war and would not be connected to the recent military build-up. A brigade is roughly 3,500 troops.

Iraqi deaths: At least 38 Iraqis also were found slain Thursday in bomb blasts, shellings, gunfire and execution-style killings. They included two television journalists and a 3-year-old boy felled by a sniper's bullet as he sat in his grandfather's lap.

Seattle Times news services

Most of the U.S. casualties in recent days occurred in Baghdad, where thousands of additional forces are deploying in the latest attempt to blunt sectarian violence. U.S. and Iraqi forces have stepped up patrols in the capital in a bid to be more visible and to improve relations with residents, but that also leaves them more vulnerable to attack.

Four U.S. soldiers were killed and four injured in two separate bombings Wednesday in Baghdad, the military said. Another was shot and killed during a reconnaissance mission that day. And two were killed Tuesday by small-arms fire while patrolling different parts of the city.

On Thursday, a U.S. soldier was killed when a roadside bomb hit his vehicle in Diyala province, east of Baghdad, the military said.

At least 3,266 U.S. service members have been killed in the war, according to an Associated Press count.

In Thursday's worst attack, gunmen overran a remote Iraqi army post near Badush prison, killing all 10 soldiers at the site near the northern city of Mosul.