BAGHDAD, Iraq - At least 20 American service members were killed in military operations Saturday in the deadliest day for US forces in two years, including 13 who died in a helicopter crash and five slain in an attack by militia fighters in the holy city of Karbala, military officials said.

Hospital staff check bodies who were recovered by the police around the capital in front of Yarmouk hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, Jan 20, 2007. At least 27 people were killed or found dead as a result of sectarian violence across the country on Friday. [AP]

Saturday's toll was the third-highest of any single day since the war began in March 2003, eclipsed only by 37 US deaths on Jan. 26, 2005, and 28 on the third day of the US invasion. US authorities also announced two American combat deaths from Friday.

The heavy toll comes at a critical time of rising congressional opposition to President Bush's decision to dispatch 21,500 additional soldiers to the conflict to try to curb sectarian slaughter.

The military gave little information on the crash of the Army Black Hawk helicopter during good weather in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad. US and Iraqi forces have been battling Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias for months in the province, around the city of Baqouba.

Lt. Col. Josslyn Aberle, a US spokeswoman, said the cause of the crash had not been determined. Navy Capt. Frank Pascual, a member of a US media relations team in the United Arab Emirates, told Al-Arabiya television that the helicopter was believed to have suffered technical troubles before going down.

Five US soldiers were killed Saturday night when militia fighters attacked a provincial headquarters in the Shiite Muslim holy city of Karbala, the military said in a statement.

The statement said "an illegally armed militia group" attacked the building with grenades, small arms and "indirect fire," which usually means mortars or rockets. The statement said three other soldiers were wounded repelling the attack.

"A meeting was taking place at the time of the attack to ensure the security of Shiite pilgrims participating in the Ashoura commemorations," said a statement from Brig. Gen. Vincent K. Brooks, deputy commander of the Multi-National Division-Baghdad.

Karbala is 50 miles south of Baghdad and thousands of Shiite pilgrims are flocking to the city to mark the 10-day Ashoura festival commemorating the death of one of Shiite Islam's most sacred saints, Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.

Brooks said Iraqi officials and security forces as well as US troops were present at the meeting, but his statement did not mention other casualties from the attack. It said the headquarters had "been secured by coalition and Iraqi security forces."

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