A U.S. soldier died of wounds sustained when a roadside bomb hit his patrol in Baghdad, the U.S. military said Sunday. Three other American soldiers were slightly wounded in the same attack but returned to duty.
The attack occurred in the northern part of Iraq's capital, the military said in a statement.
The soldier was evacuated to a military hospital but died within hours. The soldier's name is being withheld pending notification of the next of kin.
As of yesterday, at least 1,288 members of the US military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003.
Elsewhere, gunmen fired mortars and rocket-propelled grenades at Iraqi security forces in downtown Baghdad, while a suicide car bomber attacked a US military convoy in the volatile Anbar province, the military said. No American or Iraqi casualties were reported.
Insurgents are trying to derail next month's nationwide elections, in part by killing Iraqis who cooperate with the United States, making them collaborators in the eyes of insurgents. A day earlier, insurgent attacks left three Iraqi police officers dead.
Also today, four decapitated men in civilian clothes were found south of Baghdad and their identities were unclear, police and hospital official said. The victims, believed to be Iraqis, were found in the Haswa area, about 25 miles south of the capital, according to a hospital officials.
US military spokesman Lt. Col. James Hutton said an unknown number of insurgents attacked Iraqi National Guard troops in the central Baghdad with mortar and rocket-propelled grenade fire at about 7:30 a.m.
"The ING unit returned fire (and) several hand grenades were thrown at the ING unit, though there were no casualties or damage to equipment," Hutton said.
Arab TV station Al-Jazeera reported that the clashes occurred in Baghdad's Haifa Street, the scene of past fierce fighting between insurgent and coalition forces.
AP