2007 U.S. death toll in Iraq deadliest

BAGHDAD, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- The recent deaths of six U.S. troops in Iraq have made 2007 the deadliest year of the conflict for U.S. forces, the military said Tuesday.

With two separate roadside bombs claiming the lives of five U.S. troops and a sixth U.S. soldier dying during regional combat operations on Monday, the death toll for U.S. forces has reached 851, The New York Times reported.

The previous record occurred in 2004, when significant assaults against insurgent strongholds across Iraq cost 849 U.S. military personnel their lives.

The record-setting total comes in the wake of the military's announcement that the number of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq during October represented the third lowest monthly total since 2003.

U.S. officials have blamed the jump in U.S. military deaths on an increased presence in Iraq by the armed forces, the newspaper said.

The officials said that the U.S. military has begun moving its operations into more dangerous Iraqi communities as well, posing an additional threat to military units temporarily outside secure U.S. bases.