BAGHDAD - Four US soldiers have been killed in less than 24 hours in attacks by Iraqi insurgents north of Baghdad, the US military said on Wednesday.
In the latest incident, a US soldier was killed when his patrol hit a roadside bomb near Ad-Dawr at about noon (0800 GMT) on Wednesday, a US military statement said.
The predominantly Sunni Arab area is a stronghold for militants and loyalists of Saddam Hussein and it was in this lush farmland that the ousted leader was captured in December 2003.
In nearby Tikrit, Saddam's hometown, two US soldiers were killed late Tuesday in an "indirect fire attack," on their base, a military statement said. Indirect fire is a military catchall term for mortar and rocket attacks.
Leaflets signed by the shadowy Islamic Army were plastered on shop fronts and walls in Tikrit claiming responsibility for the attack on the base.
"The knights of the Ali bin Abi Taleb Brigade fired a barrage of mortars and rockets last night at the citadel of infidels in the centre of Tikrit," said the leaflet.
It is unclear if this was the same group that claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of a Turkish businessman in video footage shown on television in Dubai on Tuesday.
The US military did not specify whether the base targeted was the one located in Saddam's former sprawling palace on the edge of the city.
Another US soldier based in the restive area around Balad, also north of Baghdad, was killed in a roadside bomb Tuesday.
The deaths brought to 1,676 the number of US service personnel killed in Iraq since the US-led invasion in March 2003 according to an AFP tally based on Pentagon figures. The latest tally excludes four US Department of Defense civilian employees included in the Pentagon figures.
At least 47 Iraqis have been killed since Tuesday in a string of attacks centred in the northern part of the country as US and Iraqi forces pressed on with their offensive against insurgents in Baghdad as part of Operation Lightning.
06/08/2005 14:26 GMT