By Xinhua
Baghdad : Four US soldiers have been killed and 12 wounded in an explosion in Iraq’s restive province of Diyala, northeast of Baghdad, according to a military statement.
The soldiers died of wounds sustained from a bomb explosion during combat operations in the province Monday, said the statement.
The names of the soldiers are being withheld pending notification of the relatives, the statement said, without giving any other details.
Thousands of US and Iraqi troops are carrying out a month-long major offensive targeting Shia militia and Al Qaeda Sunni fighters in the Diyala insurgents’ strongholds.
The latest deaths bring the number of US soldiers who have been killed in Iraq to 3,673 since the war broke out in March 2003, according to media count based on Pentagon figures.