US toll in Iraq hits 4,000

Baghdad: The death toll of US soldiers in Iraq reached 4,000 on Monday, days after the fifth anniversary of a war that President George W Bush says the United States is on track to win.

The US military said four soldiers were killed on Sunday when a roadside bomb, the biggest killer of American soldiers in Iraq, exploded near their vehicle in southern Baghdad.

US military commanders say overall levels of violence are down 60 per cent since last June
One soldier was wounded in the attack, which brought the number of US military deaths to 4,000 since the US-led invasion in 2003.

The deaths came on a day when the US-protected “Green Zone”, the government and diplomatic compound in central Baghdad, was hit by repeated rocket and mortar fire, part of an upsurge in violence in the capital and elsewhere.

Sunday’s violence, in which dozens were killed, underscored the fragility of Iraq’s security.

There has been an increase in attacks since January, although US military commanders say overall levels of violence are down 60 per cent since last June.

The US military dismisses such tolls as arbitrary markers.