8 American soldiers, security agents killed in Iraq attacks

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2005-09-20-guards-diplomat_x.htm

BAGHDAD (AP) — The U.S. military said Tuesday that four U.S. soldiers were killed in two separate roadside bombings near the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi, pushing the toll of American forces killed in Iraq past 1,900. In the northern city of Mosul, a suicide bomber killed four American security agents, a U.S. official said Tuesday.

The soldiers died in two separate bomb attacks Monday during combat operations in the volatile western Iraqi city, 70 miles west of Baghdad, the military said. The victims were U.S. Army soldiers attached to the 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force.

As of Tuesday, 1,903 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. At least 1,483 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers. The figures include five military civilians.

Ramadi, a city of about 350,000, has been the scene of intense but sporadic fighting since the insurgency gained strength and began its offensive against U.S. forces during the summer of 2003.

[alcibiades_mystery]

1. Revise your headline

It is 8 total, or 4 soldiers and 4 mercenaries. Not 8 soldiers.