Seven U.S. service members killed in Iraq; U.S. intelligence chief visits

November 3, 2006 - 2:30 pm

By: SINAN SALAHEDDIN

BAGHDAD (AP) - U.S. National Intelligence Director John Negroponte met Friday with Iraq's prime minister in the second visit this week by a top U.S. official. The unannounced meeting comes amid spiralling violence that included seven American deaths and the discovery of 56 bodies in the Iraqi capital bearing signs of torture.

The bodies found scattered around Baghdad were of Iraqi men between 20 and 45 years old, and all were apparent victims of sectarian death squads, police said Friday. The military also said a Baghdad-based soldier had died in a non-combat related incident north of Baghdad on Thursday, raising the death toll in November to 11 [it's only Nov. 3rd].

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At least 2,829 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the war, according to an Associated Press count.

October was the fourth-deadliest month for U.S. forces since the war began, with the deaths of 105 service members reported.

Last month was also especially bloody for Iraqis, with more than 1,200 Iraqis killed by violence in October, the highest level since The Associated Press began tracking civilian deaths in April 2005.

Desperate to flee the carnage, nearly 100,000 Iraqis each month are moving to Syria and Jordan, where their presence has driven up prices for housing, food and other commodities, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said Friday.

The UNHCR estimated that as of last month, at least 914,000 Iraqis had fled their homes since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, chief spokesman Ron Redmond told The Associated Press in Geneva.