The U.S. military has announced the deaths of seven American servicemen in Iraq, making October one of the deadliest months for U.S. forces since the start of the war. The seven died in three separate roadside bomb attacks near Baghdad Sunday and Monday. Military officials also reported the death last week of Colonel William Wood -- the highest ranking U.S. officer to die in combat in Iraq. He was killed by an explosion in Baghdad. Also Monday, an insurgent bomb attack in the southern city of Basra killed at least 20 people. Near the western city of Karabilah, U.S. troops launched airstrikes that they said killed an al-Qaida leader. Iraqi witnesses said the attack killed dozens of civilians, but U.S. officials said they had no reports of civilian casualties.
