15 January 2004	Thursday	22 Ziqa'ad 1424

WASHINGTON, Jan 14: At least 21 US troops have committed suicide in Iraq, a growing toll that represents one in seven of American "non-hostile" deaths since the invasion began in March, the Pentagon's top health official said on Wednesday.

"Fighting this kind of war is clearly going to be stressful for some people," Assistant Defence Secretary William Winkenwerder told reporters in an interview.

"There have been 21 confirmed suicides during the past year associated with Operation Iraqi Freedom," Dr Winkenwerder said, adding that 18 were Army soldiers and three others were in the Navy and Marine Corps.

The suicide toll is probably higher than 21, he added, because some "pending" non-hostile deaths are being investigated. A total of 496 US troops have been killed since the invasion began _ 343 of them in combat and 153 in non-hostile incidents ranging from accidents to suicide, the Pentagon said.

The 21 suicides represent nearly 14 per cent of non-hostile deaths reported by the Pentagon, an increase over the proportion of 11 per cent as of three months ago when the suicide number totalled 13.

BATTLE STRESS: Dr Winkenwerder said the military was concerned over the suicides and was moving to deal with "battle stress" and other emotional problems triggered by armed conflict.

He did not provide any suicide rates for past US conflicts, but suggested that problems such as the domestic killings involving soldiers who returned to their base in North Carolina from Afghanistan in 2002 had prompted the Army to be more aware of stress.-Reuters