The U.S. military announced Monday that the American death toll for October climbed to 101. The number is the highest monthly death toll since January 2005. The grim milestone came as violence returned to Baghdad after a lull that followed the end of Ramadan.
The latest U.S. serviceman to die was a military policeman shot dead by an insurgent sniper in Baghdad. Earlier Monday, the military anounced the death of a U.S. Marine in an insurgent stronghold west of the capital.
Anbar province, especially its capital city of Ramadi, has been the scene of some of the bloodiest battles of the war. Americans come under attack daily in Ramadi as they struggle to bring the city under some sort of control.
In Baghdad on Monday, a bomb ripped through a crowd of men, killing dozens and wounding scores more. The men were gathered in the Sadr City district to seek work as day laborers.
The bombing occured even as American forces have the Shiite slum encircled with a cordon of troops. They have shut down many roads, and the few that are open have hours-long lines as U.S. troops check every car entering and leaving the area.
Sadr City is the stronghold of the Mehdi Army, followers of the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
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