Seven American troops have been killed in Iraq, including four in a single incident, the U.S. military said Sunday.
A roadside bomb killed four soldiers Saturday while they were on patrol in western Baghdad, the military said in a statement. Small arms fire followed the blast, wounding another soldier.
The attack occurred as the soldiers were conducting patrols as part of a month-old security operation to end sectarian violence in the capital, the statement said.
So far this month, the soldiers' battalion had found eight weapons caches and two roadside bombs, as well as helping to rescue a kidnap victim, the military said.
A Task Force Lightning soldier also died and five others were wounded Saturday as a result of injuries sustained in an explosion in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, according to a statement.
In western Anbar province, a U.S. Marine died Saturday while conducting combat operations, the military also said.
Another soldier died the same day in a non-combat related incident, the military said in another statement. The circumstances were under investigation.
The victims' names were withheld pending family notification.
The deaths raise to at least 3,216 members of the U.S. military who have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
In Other Developments:
A roadside bomb hit an Iraqi police convoy in eastern Baghdad, killing two policemen and wounding five others, authorities said. Two vehicles were damaged. Later, police said a mortar round landed near a house in central Baghdad, killing a civilian and wounding another. A car bomb killed seven Iraqis in a predominantly Shiite district of Baghdad. Police say more than two dozen others were hurt. The attack
targeted people cooking food at open-air grills in the street to
offer as charity. Also today, gunmen opened fire on a minibus carrying civilians
northeast of Baghdad, killing seven. In Shorja market, Baghdad's most popular central shopping district, a man tossed a grenade into a group of workers, police said. One worker was killed and another was wounded. The suspect escaped through a nearby alley, they said. The Shorja market has been bombed several times, including a large truck bomb last month. But the area was turned into a pedestrian zone after a U.S.-Iraqi security crackdown began in Baghdad on Feb. 14. Also Sunday, an abandoned hotel exploded in an industrial area of Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad. Police said insurgents had planted bombs in the three-story building and then detonated it at dawn. Half of the building was destroyed. Iraqi troops had taken over part of the building's roof as a base, police said. There were no reports of casualties. In Diwaniyah, 80 miles south of Baghdad, fierce fighting erupted between U.S. troops and elements of the Shiite Mahdi Army, police said. There were no reports of casualties, and the U.S. military had no immediate comment. Eleven bodies turned up in three locations outside of Baghdad. Many showed signs of torture. The U.S. military said U.S. troops captured 12 suspected militants Sunday in raids across Iraq.