20 U.S. Troops Killed in Iraq Today

Tweet BAGHDAD, Jan 20 (Reuters) - U.S. forces had one of their costliest days in Iraq on Saturday when 20 troops were killed, including 13 on a helicopter and five in a clash in a Shi'ite holy city that the U.S. military blamed on militiamen.

The battle at a government building in Kerbala was the bloodiest for U.S. troops in the Shi'ite south in two years and occurred as President George W. Bush presses leaders of the Shi'ite majority to crack down on militias from their community. Hours after the loss of all 13 passengers and crew aboard a Blackhawk transport helicopter, the U.S. military said five soldiers were killed and three wounded in the Kerbala clash. Two other soldiers were killed elsewhere, and the deaths of two killed on Friday were also announced.

It was the deadliest day for U.S. forces since Bush said 10 days ago he was sending about 20,000 more troops to Iraq to try to prevent sectarian civil war between Shi'ite Muslims and the once-dominant Sunni Arab minority. His plans have run into resistance from opposition Democrats who now control Congress. It was unclear whether the helicopter was shot down. Residents near Baquba in violent Diyala province northeast of Baghdad said they saw a helicopter in flames in the air.

Thousands of pilgrims are thronging Kerbala, 110 km (70 miles) south of Baghdad, at the start of the 10-day rite of Ashura, a highpoint of the Shi'ite calendar and a target before for attacks by al Qaeda and other Sunnis.

"The Provincial Joint Coordination Center (PJCC) in Kerbala was attacked with grenades, small arms and indirect fires by an illegally armed militia group," the U.S. military said in a statement, apparently blaming Shi'ite militiamen rather than Sunni insurgents whom it usually refers to as "terrorists".

"Five U.S. soldiers were killed and three wounded while repelling the attack." It made no mention of attackers killed or detained and officials did not immediately respond to queries on how the assailants' identity was established.