Casualty Count

The death of eight UK servicemen in an US helicopter crash at the start of the Iraq conflict was due to mechanical failure, a coroner has ruled.

The Iraqi Cabinet approved a draft law yesterday that could free thousands of prisoners, one of the main demands of Sunni Arab politicians boycotting the Shiite-led government in Baghdad.

U.S. troops killed 11 members of a Mahdi Army splinter group early Thursday, American officials said. The military also announced that it had detained two more suspects in the capture of three U.S. soldiers earlier this year.

Iraqi police and U.S. forces have captured two militants suspected of involvement in the abduction of three U.S. soldiers south of Baghdad earlier this year, the U.S. military said on Thursday.

The autonomous parliament of northern Iraq's Kurdish administration on Wednesday approved a United Nations plan to delay a public vote on the future of the oil city of Kirkuk by six months.

U.S. officials on Wednesday forecast less violence in Iraq in 2008, despite a planned reduction of American troops. The combination of more Sunni fighters in the Iraqi army and a recent backlash against militants will allow U.S.-led troops...

Iraq's Cabinet on Wednesday approved the draft of a general amnesty bill for detainees being held in Iraqi prisons, a measure which could go a long way toward reconciling Iraq's warring sects and factions.

Sgt. Peter C. Neesley, 28, of Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich., died Dec. 25 in Baghdad, Iraq, of an undetermined cause in a non-combat environment. He was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division...

It started with a broken generator at a water pumping station. Local officials did what they usually do when an important piece of machinery needs repairs: They turned to the U.S. forces stationed in town.

Two Multi-National Division - North Soldiers died from wounds sustained from small-arms fire while conducting operations in Ninewa Province Dec. 26...three more MND-North Soldiers were injured in the attack and evacuated to a Coalition hospital.

Police said they killed an insurgent while he was trying to plant a roadside bomb in the town of Tuz Khurmato, 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad.

The decomposed bodies of 17 men have been found in Iraq's restive Diyala province northeast of Baghdad, the Iraqi army said on Wednesday. The bodies were found in a town near the provincial capital of Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad...

Army officials at Fort Drum announced today that a 24-year-old infantryman was killed and four others injured in an IED attack in Iraq...Two of the four other 1st BCT soldiers hurt in the attack suffered serious injuries, Army officials said.

Turkish troops killed six Kurdish rebels in a security operation on Wednesday in the country's southeast close to the Iraqi border, the army said, cited by AFP.

Pfc. George J. Howell 24, of Salinas, Calif., died Dec. 21 in Riyadh, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his vehicle was attacked by an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team...

Veterans with head injuries or psychological wounds might not be in the best position to pore over some 5,000 pages of government disability regulations and then write up a claim, but the word is out that Kinn gets results.

Christmas this year was better than it was last year, when Youmara was too frightened to decorate or attend church services. Today, he took his wife, parents and three children to a small neighborhood church. It warmed his heart to find the church full...

The Iraqi cabinet on Wednesday approved a draft law that offers a general pardon to thousands of detainees held in US and Iraqi prisons in a bid to boost national reconciliation, an official told AFP.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki insisted on Wednesday that a 32-year-old territorial accord with Iraq remained in force, despite the Iraqi president reportedly saying it was now void.

Al-Qaeda-linked insurgents early Wednesday blew up the offices of the so-called people's councils in the Iraqi city of Baquba, killing three council members and wounding two...