BAGHDAD, July 1 (UPI) -- Increased violence against U.S. troops in Iraq is attributed to three Sunni-dominated militias with ties to Iran, U.S. military commanders said.
The death toll for June was the highest since 15 U.S. troops died in Iraq in June 2009, iCasualties.org, a Web site that tracks U.S. military deaths, said. Fourteen deaths were combat-related, the highest since 23 military personnel were killed in action in June 2008, the site said.
Maj. Gen. Jeffrey S. Buchanan, lead spokesman for the U.S. military in Iraq, the primary threat to the U.S. troops is from three Iraq-based Shiite militia groups officials said they think are being trained and equipped by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, The Washington Post reported Thursday.
"All of them receive at least indirect support from elements in Iran," Buchanan told the Post.
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No one has claimed responsibility for the latest casualties -- three U.S. troops killed Wednesday in southern Iraq. Kataib Hezbollah, one of the Shiite militia groups Buchanan listed, said earlier last month it was responsible for an attack in which six soldiers died.
Buchanan said there is "no doubt" Kataib Hezbollah "follows orders" from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds force, a specialized unit responsible for operations outside Iran.
"Their leadership lives in Iran, they are directly trained by the Quds force and they are supplied by them," Buchanan said.
Although the U.S. military did not release specifics on Wednesday's attack pending notification of next of kin, officials familiar with the incident said the rocket was so powerful that it also wounded more than a dozen soldiers, several critically.
Buchanan said efforts to protect U.S. forces in Iraq are further complicated by rival Shiite militias that are vying to emerge as the dominant Shiite insurgency group in Iraq.
