BAGHDAD, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Two U.S. soldiers died Monday in Iraq as American troops increased their military pressure on suspected insurgents.
The Washington Post said U.S. forces killed at least six suspected insurgents and captured nearly 100 others during attacks on dozens of suspected hideouts in Tikrit, the hometown of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
The Post said the two U.S. soldiers killed died in separate incidents north of Baghdad. One died when a patrol was ambushed and the other when a convoy was hit by a roadside bomb. The soldiers were not immediately identified
Also Monday, troops blocked off 20 blocks in Baghdad and conducted house-to-house searches.
During a Monday evening press briefing, officials said 99 anti-coalition suspects had been captured during the previous 24 hours as occupation forces staged 25 raids and more than 1,700 patrols.
Officers said one patrol resulted in the deaths of three Iraqis, including an 11-year-old boy, at an open-air gun market in Baghdad. Witnesses said the soldiers apparently mistook the test firing of weapons for an attack on the patrol.
