BAGHDAD (AP) - The U.S. military said Tuesday that three American soldiers were killed the day before by a roadside bomb north of Baghdad, bringing to eight the number of troops who died that day. In southern Iraq, meanwhile, a roadside bomb hit a bus that was traveling from Basra to Nasiriyah, killing at least 16 civilians on board, according to a Nasiriyah policeman. At least 22 others were wounded in the attack, which took place about 50 miles south of Nasiriyah.
An interpreter also was killed on Monday along with three soldiers when they were hit by the bomb in eastern Diyala province, a military statement said. Another soldier was wounded in the attack.
On Monday in Baghdad, five American soldiers on a foot patrol were killed when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives vest after approaching them. The attacks marked the deadliest day for American forces in Iraq since Sept. 10, when eight soldiers died in two road accidents and two Marines were killed fighting insurgents in Anbar province.
Three other American troops and an Iraqi interpreter also were wounded in the Baghdad attack. Iraqi police said two civilians also were killed in the bombing.
The attack in Baghdad showed the insurgents' ability to strike in the heart of the heavily fortified capital, as well as in restive Diyala province.
"Quagmire!" returns.
The suicide bomber hit the soldiers after they had left their Humvees and were chatting with shop owners, an Iraqi police officer who witnessed the attack said on condition of anonymity as he wasn't authorized to speak to the media.
As part of the military's counterinsurgency plans, U.S. bases are now inside neighborhoods and more U.S. soldiers are getting out of their armored vehicles to patrol Baghdad on foot. While the face-to-face contact builds goodwill, it also gives suicide bombers, who often slip past security vehicle checkpoints by walking, better access to striking soldiers.
According to military figures, attacks in Baghdad are down 75 percent since June 2007, largely because of a boost in U.S. troops, a cease- fire by the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia and the role of former Sunni militants and tribal groups who have switched sides to join U.S. forces against al-Qaida in Iraq. But some fear that violence in Baghdad and elsewhere will accelerate after the withdrawal of thousands of American troops.
All is lost!
Also Monday, a female suicide bomber killed a U.S.-backed Sunni leader who formed a group to fight against al-Qaida insurgents in central Iraq after his guards ushered her into the home without searching her.
And a rare suicide car bomb Monday evening in the northern Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah outside a hotel killed at least two people and injured more than a dozen, hospital officials said.
On Tuesday in the northern city of Mosul, four police officers were killed by gunmen at a checkpoint, a provincial police official said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.