Three US soldiers killed in Iraq

Baghdad, Nov 14: Three US soldiers were killed in two separate incidents in northern Iraq, the US military said today, the latest casualties in what has been the deadliest year of the war for US forces.

Two soldiers died and four were wounded when they were hit by a roadside bomb in restive Diyala province northeast of Baghdad yesterday, the military said in a statement.

Another soldier was shot and killed near the volatile city of Mosul, 390 km north of Baghdad.

Their deaths take the total of US soldiers killed in Iraq to 3,863, according to the independent Web site icasualties.org, which tracks military and civilian casualties in Iraq.

US military and Iraqi civilian casualties have dropped sharply in the previous two months, with a boost of 30,000 extra troops and the growing use of neighbourhood Iraqi police units being credited for the declines.

However, about 860 US troops have been killed so far this year, more than the previous worst yearly total of 849 in 2004.

Reuters>