WASHINGTON, Dec 26: The death toll of US soldiers in Iraq reached 2,975, a macabre milestone in the midst of the Christmas season, surpassing the toll from the Sept 11 attacks which sparked the US “war on terror”.

Three US soldiers were killed around Baghdad on Tuesday, bringing the number of US fatalities in Iraq since the 2003 invasion to two more than the number killed in the attacks in the United States in 2001.

Though tens of thousands of Iraqis have also perished, many in a murderous wave of sectarian violence wracking their country, the landmark US death toll represents another political body blow for President George W. Bush.

“People will be aware of the fact that that milestone (has passed), the press will point it out and people will make that connection,” said Eric Davis, professor of political science at Middlebury College, Vermont.—AFP