BAGHDAD - Eight US soldiers and a journalist were killed on Sunday, seven of them in a single blast northeast of Baghdad when their vehicle was destroyed by roadside bomb, the US military said.
"Six Task Force Lightning Soldiers and one civilian journalist died as a result of injuries sustained when their vehicle was attacked with an IED (roadside bomb) in Diyala Province," said a military statement.
Two other soldiers in the vehicle were injured.
On the same day two other US soldiers were killed in Baghdad in separate attacks by roadside bombs.
The military also announced the death of two marines killed in the western al-Anbar province during combat operations on Saturday as well as that of a soldier in Baghdad.
There was also the announcement of a non-combat related death of a US soldier.
The latest casualties brought the number of US soldiers to die in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion to 3,374, according to an AFP count based on Pentagon figures.
05/06/2007 19:41 GMT