U.S. troops death toll hits 3000 in Iraq

Source: Xinhuanet | 01-03-2007 09:52

BAGHDAD, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- At least 3000 U.S. soldiers have died in Iraq since the war began in 2003 as the U.S. military announced on Sunday one more soldiers was killed.

Spc. Dustin R. Donica, 22, of Spring, Texas, was killed Thursday in Baghdad, by small arms while conducting combat operations, the Pentagon said on the Web site, www.icasualties.org.

He was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division,Fort Richardson, Alaska, the Defense Department added.

The death is previously unreported.

Earlier on Sunday, the U.S. military also said that a roadside bomb detonated near a U.S. patrol, killing one soldier and wounding two others in a southeastern neighborhood of Baghdad on Saturday.

The soldier's name is being withheld pending notification of next of kin, it said.

It was the latest death, which brings the number of U.S. fatalities in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion to 3000, according to media count based on Pentagon figures.

So far, at least 111 U.S. soldier have died in Iraq in December alone, which became the bloodiest month for U.S. military this year.

Editor:Du Xiaodan