Iraqi Ambassador to Russia Says Coalition Forces Lost 700 Soldiers

The coalition forces have lost over 700 people in the course of their operation in Iraq, said Iraqi Ambassador to Russia Abbas Khalaf, referring to new information from Baghdad. Over the past 24 hours, 500 American and British soldiers were killed in the battles for Najaf and Karbala (two holy cities for Iraq's Shiites).

According to Khalaf, since American and British armies have great difficulties in fulfilment of their tasks, they are expecting reinforcement of approximately 30,000 people.

The Ambassador also claims that three American unmanned combat air vehicles /UCAV/ were shot down in the sky above Najaf.