BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Eight U.S. troops were slain in Iraq on Monday in a deadly chain of events that began when a U.S. helicopter crashed, apparently shot down by small-arms fire, according to a U.S. military official.
A military vehicle rushing to the helicopter crash site was hit by an exploding roadside bomb, and a second “quick-reaction force” vehicle also was hit, the official said.
The two pilots of the Kiowa helicopter were killed in the crash; six soldiers died in the bombings of the two vehicles, and three others were injured.
The eight Memorial Day deaths occurred in volatile Diyala province between Baquba and Muqdadiya, the U.S. military announced on Tuesday.
The statement said all of those killed were from Task Force Lightning, the force that patrols northern stretches of Iraq, including Diyala.
U.S. commanders have expressed concern about a rise in violence and the growing presence of al Qaeda in Iraq militants, who have fled to Diyala from other regions of the country.
The U.S. death toll for May has risen to 112, making it the deadliest month so far this year.
The highest monthly death tolls for U.S. troops occurred in 2004 — 137 in November and 135 in April.
Since the start of the war, 3,456 U.S. service members have died. Seven civilian contractors of the Defense Department also have been killed in the war.
Abductions at Finance Ministry
On Tuesday, three people were kidnapped from an Iraq Finance Ministry building in north-central Baghdad, according to sources at the Interior and Finance ministries.
There were conflicting reports about the nationalities of those kidnapped.
The British Foreign Office is checking into reports that Britons were among those abducted.
The Associated Press reported that the victims were German, citing an Iraqi government official. The German Foreign Ministry told the AP that it was checking into the report.
Gen. Abdul Kareem Khalaf, Interior Ministry spokesman, said the incident took place on Palestine Street just before noon.
He said at least 19 cars drove up to the location, stormed the building and fled with abductees.
Car bombs near Baghdad markets kill dozens
Meanwhile, two car bombs rocked separate areas of Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 38 people, an Interior Ministry official said.
Around 1:30 p.m. (5:30 a.m. ET), a parked car bomb detonated near a police checkpoint and a busy market area in central Baghdad’s Tayaran Square.
At least 23 people were killed and 55 others were wounded in the attack, the official said.
About an hour later, another parked car bomb exploded in a street market in the southwestern neighborhood of Hay Amil, the official said. Initial reports indicated 15 civilians were killed and 36 others wounded, the official said.
U.S.-led coalition raids occurred around Iraq on Tuesday morning. Fourteen people were seized in Baghdad, Mosul and north of Taji, the U.S. military said.
One of those seized in Baghdad was described as the “alleged al Qaeda in Iraq emir in charge of the Hay al-Jamah area of the city.”
A raid in Samarra on Saturday led to the arrest of nine “suspected al Qaeda in Iraq operatives,” the U.S. military said Tuesday.
In the Saturday raid, police also seized a video camera containing evidence of a recent car bomb attack that destroyed the home of Samarra’s city council president, and found items thought “to be used for small arms attacks, murder, kidnapping and ransom,” the military said.
An Interior Ministry official on Tuesday updated the casualty toll in Monday’s central Baghdad truck bombing. It now stands at 24 dead and 60 wounded.
The blast went off near a Sunni mosque, which was damaged, but police said they believe civilians on the street were the target. The damaged mosque is considered one of the holiest shrines for many Sunni Muslims and houses the tomb of Abdul Qader al-Jelani, a 12th-century Sufi saint. A nearby Shiite mosque was unscathed.
CNN’s Arwa Damon and Cal Perry contributed to the report.
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