Baghdad, December 14: The United States military has announced that another one of its soldiers has lost his life in Iraq due to non-combat injuries.
“A Multi-National Division-North soldier died, Dec. 11, from non-combat related injuries. The soldier was discovered unresponsive in his living quarters by a non-commissioned officer in the unit,” according to a US military statement issued on Sunday.
The United States military also announced that the incident is currently under investigation. The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of the next of kin and release by the Department of Defense.
He was the fourth US soldier to die in Iraq this month.
The fatality brings to 150 the number of US soldiers killed so far this year in Iraq.
The US military has lost a total of 4,371 soldiers since the war began in March 2003.
A total of 314 US troops lost their lives in 2008. The preceding year, 2007, nonetheless remains the deadliest year the US military has seen in Iraq, with a death toll of 904.
The United States sustained a loss of 822 servicemen in 2006 plus 846 in 2005. Some 849 soldiers were killed in 2004, and 486 lost their lives in 2003.
More than one million Iraqis have died because of the war, according to data compiled by the London-based Opinion Research Business (ORB) and its research partner in Iraq, the Independent Institute for Administration and Civil Society Studies (IIACSS).
Moreover, a fifth of Iraqi households have lost at least one family member due to the conflict. The United Nations estimates the number of displaced people at more than four million, nearly half of whom have fled to neighboring countries, particularly Syria.
——Agencies