At least 80 Iraqis, 6 American soldiers die

The U.S. death toll since March 2003 has reached at least 2,998.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- At least 80 Iraqis died in bombings and other attacks Saturday as they prepared to celebrate Islam's biggest holiday, their first without Saddam Hussein.
The bombings came hours after Saddam was hanged in Baghdad for ordering the killings of 148 Shiites in the city of Dujail in 1982. Despite concerns about a spike in unrest, Saturday's violence was not unusually high for Iraq, nor did it appear to be in retaliation for the execution.
The military reported the deaths of six more American troops, making December the deadliest month this year for U.S. forces in Iraq. At least 2,998 members of the U.S. military have been killed since the Iraq war began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
In Baghdad, 12 bodies bearing signs of torture were also found in various parts of the city, police said.
Two car bombs detonated one after another in a religiously mixed neighborhood of northwest Baghdad, killing 37 civilians and wounding 76, police said.
Minibus explodes
An additional 31 people died and 58 were injured when a bomb planted on a minibus exploded in a fish market in a mostly Shiite town south of Baghdad, said Issa Mohammed, director of the morgue in the neighboring town of Najaf.
The man blamed for parking the vehicle in Kufa, about 100 miles south of the Iraqi capital, was cornered and killed by a mob as he walked away from the explosion, police and witnesses said.
Shoppers had crowded into the market to buy supplies for the four-day Eid al-Adha, the most important holiday of the Islamic calendar for Shiites.
Television footage showed hundreds of men in traditional Arab headdresses swarming around the minibus's charred frame, toppled on its side in the street. Ambulances and firetrucks pulled up to the site, and a coffin was loaded on top of a car.
The new deaths announced by the U.S. military included three Marines and a soldier killed in combat in Iraq's volatile western Anbar province, and two soldiers killed by roadside bombs in Baghdad. Their deaths brought the December toll for U.S. troops to 109, making it the deadliest month of 2006 for American service members. Some 105 troops died in October.
Bush statement
The total U.S. death toll in Iraq teetered on the brink of 3,000 at a crucial time, as President Bush seeks to craft a new Iraq policy in the new year. Bush issued a statement from his ranch in Crawford, Texas, warning of more challenges ahead for American troops.
"Many difficult choices and further sacrifices lie ahead," he said in the statement released Friday night. "Yet the safety and security of the American people require that we not relent in ensuring that Iraq's young democracy continues to progress."
December also appeared to be one of the worst months for Iraqi civilian deaths since the AP began keeping track in May 2005.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.