3 U.S. Troops Killed in Iraq

BAGHDAD —  The U.S. military on Sunday announced the deaths of three troops, pushing the death toll of American forces to nearly 1,500 since the Iraq war began in March 2003.

All three died Saturday; two were killed in an ambush in southeastern Baghdad and the third, a Marine, was killed in military operations in Babil province, south of the capital.

Early today, a large car bombing was reported in Hillah, also in Babil province. Witnesses said a bomber drove into a crowd of people applying for government jobs. Dozens of people were killed or hurt, witnesses said.

The blast followed a deadly Sunday across the country. Bomb attacks and ambushes killed nine people near the northern city of Mosul. Six bodies were found in and just south of Baghdad; one, a woman, had been decapitated and a note attached to her body said “spy.”

In western Baghdad, two policemen died in an ambush.