U.S. soldiers watch as a plume of smoke
rises from an air-strike they ordered to destroy a desert cave complex
used by insurgents in Diyala Province. The death toll of US soldiers in
the five-year Iraq conflict has hit 4,000 in what the US military said
Monday was a "tragic" loss of lives after four troops were killed in a
Baghdad bombing. (Xinhua/AFP Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
WASHINGTON, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Four U.S. soldiers
died Sunday night in a roadside bombing in Iraq, bringing the American toll in
the five-year war to 4,000.
The four were killed when a homemade bomb hit their
vehicle as they patrolled a southern Baghdad neighborhood, the U.S. military
said Monday.
A fifth soldier was wounded.
The grim milestone comes less than a week after the
fifth anniversary of the U.S-led invasion of Iraq.
Of the 4,000 U.S. military personnel killed in the
conflict, 3,263 have died in combat and attacks, and 737 in non-hostile
incidents, such as traffic accidents and suicides.
Eight of the killed were civilians working for the Pentagon.
File photo taken on May 26, 2007 shows flowers and a birthday balloon laid in front of headstones of soldiers who died in war, at the 60th section of Arlington National Cemetery of Virginia State, the United States. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
Also Sunday, at least 35 Iraqis died in suicide
bombings, mortar fire and when gunmen in cars opened fire in a crowded outdoor
market.
Nearly 100 were wounded in the violence.
Estimates of the Iraqi death toll since the war began
range from about 80,000 to hundreds of thousands.
Another 2 million Iraqis have been forced to leave
the country, and 2.5 million have been displaced from their homes within Iraq,
according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
Nearly 160,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, continuing
to wage a war that has cost U.S. taxpayers about 500 billion U.S. dollars.
U.S. soldiers inspect the scene of a
rocket attack in Baghdad March 23, 2008.(Xinhua/AFP Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
U.S. soldiers patrol in Diyala Province, northeast of Baghdad. The death toll of US soldiers in the five-year Iraq conflict has hit 4,000 in what the US military said Monday was a "tragic" loss of lives after four troops were killed in a Baghdad bombing.(Xinhua/AFP Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
