More U.S. Deaths in Iraq

Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed Thursday to have shot down a U.S. attack helicopter that crashed near Ramadi, killing two Marines aboard, and a third serviceman died when his patrol struck a roadside bomb while rushing to their rescue.

Another U.S. soldier was killed Thursday when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb during a combat operation near Baqouba, northeast of Baghdad, the military said. The killing raised to at least 2,037 the number of U.S. military service members who have died since the war began in 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

The helicopter crash that killed the two Marines occurred Wednesday in the insurgent stronghold west of the capital during two days of fighting in the area that saw three other U.S. service members killed by roadside bombs.

Boys stood Thursday beside the wreckage of the AH-1W Super Cobra and residents of the insurgent stronghold buried dead from what they said was a subsequent U.S. airstrike nearby.