BAGHDAD - Four more US soldiers have been killed in Iraq, the military announced Friday, as an increased pace in combat operations kept the average rate of American deaths at three per day so far this month.
In the bloodiest incident, one soldier was killed and nine were wounded by an explosion next to their patrol Thursday while they were "conducting combat operations" in Diyala province north of Baghdad.
Two of the wounded were able to return to duty, a statement said, while the others are receiving treatment.
In another attack on Thursday one "soldier was killed and two others were wounded when an improvised explosive device detonated on their patrol in eastern Baghdad," another statement said.
One soldier was shot dead "while conducting combat security operations" in south Baghdad. Another, from the military police, died of his wounds after being hit by gunfire in Diwaniyah, south of the capital.
Thursday's fatalities brought the number of US servicemen who have died in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion to 3,386, according to an AFP count based on Pentagon figures.
US commanders have warned that they expect more casualties this month as a large security operation designed to quell sectarian violence and hunt down insurgents and death squads goes into its fourth month.
05/11/2007 12:08 GMT