Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, June 7 (Xinhua) -- Four American soldiers were killed and two more injured in separate attacks across Iraq, the U.S. military said on Thursday.

    A soldier was killed and another wounded in a roadside bomb explosion while conducting combat operations in eastern the capital on Wednesday, the military said in a statement.

    Another soldier was killed at about 05:00 p.m. (1300 GMT) Wednesday when a roadside bomb struck his vehicle while conducting a combat logistics patrol in an area near the town of Bayji, 200 km north of Iraq, a statement said.

    A third soldier in the same day died of wounds sustained from an explosion while conducting operations in the volatile Diyala province northeast of Baghdad, the military said.

    Another soldier was also wounded by the blast, it added.

    A fourth soldier died of injuries sustained from insurgents' gunfire in Diyala province on Tuesday, a statement said.

    So far, at least 21 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq this month, bringing the U.S. death toll to more than 3,500 since the outbreak of U.S.-led invasion to Iraq in 2003, according to media count based on Pentagon figures.