Five U.S. troops were killed Monday in Iraq, U.S. officials said — the single largest loss of life for the American military in the country in more than two years.
The troops died in a rocket attack that targeted a base in Baghdad, NBC News' Jim Miklazewski reported.
A senior Iraqi security official told Reuters the Americans died in a rocket attack on a joint military base in Baghdad's eastern Baladiyat district.
Two suspected militants were found dead, apparently killed by the premature explosion of one of their own rockets in the modified truck they were using as a launch platform, an interior ministry told the news agency.
However, a military statement gave no additional details about where the incident occurred or how they died.
The incident was under investigation and the names of the deceased were being withheld pending notification of the next of kin, the U.S. military said.
The deaths raised to 4,459 the number of American service members who have died in Iraq, according to an Associated Press count.
Withdrawal deadline
Although overall levels of violence have fallen since the peak of Iraq's 2006-2007 sectarian conflict, attacks have increased as the year-end deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops approaches.
The U.S. currently has roughly 46,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, down from a one-time high of roughly 170,000. The American military officially ended its combat operations in Iraq last August and reduced its forces to less than 50,000 troops.
The remaining forces are focused on training and assisting Iraqi security personnel, and are not supposed to be actively engaged in combat operations. However, American forces still come under almost daily attack by rockets and mortars in their bases and get shot at and targeted by roadside bombs when they move outside of their bases.
Monday's incident was the single largest loss of life for the U.S. military since May 2009, when five U.S. troops were killed in Baghdad during a non-combat related incident. In April 2009, six U.S. troops died — five in combat in the northern city of Mosul and one north of Baghdad in a non-combat related incident.
