Fueled by fierce fighting in Fallujah and insurgents' counterattacks elsewhere in Iraq, the U.S. military death toll for November is approaching the highest for any month of the war. At least 134 U.S. troops died in November, according to casualty reports available Tuesday. The worst month was April when 135 died as the insurgence flared in Fallujah and elsewhere where U.S. forces and their Iraqi allies lost a large measure of control. The Pentagon's official death toll for Iraq, dating to the start of the war, stood at 1,251 on Monday, but that did not include three soldiers killed by two roadside bombs in the Baghdad area and another killed in a vehicle accident. When the month began, the official death toll stood at 1,121. It was not clear whether the bombing deaths of two Marines south of Baghdad on Sunday were included in the overall count the Pentagon published Monday. Combat injuries increased in November due to the fierce fighting in Fallujah. Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington reported Monday that it received 32 additional battle casualties from Iraq over the past two weeks. One was in critical condition. All 32 had been treated earlier at the Army's largest hospital in Europe, Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. Some of the most severe injuries - and many of the deaths - among U.S. troops in Iraq are inflicted by the insurgents' homemade bombs, which the military calls improvised explosive devices, or IEDs.
