US toll in Iraq exceeds 900

A roadside bomb has exploded killing one US soldier and taking the number of US military dead since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 above 900.

Resistance attacks are continuing unabated in Iraq

Major Neal O’Brien of the 1st Infantry Division said the most recent soldier killed was on patrol in a Bradley fighting vehicle in Duluiyah, 72km north of Baghdad, when a bomb detonated shortly after midnight on Wednesday.

Another US soldier was killed and six others wounded when their patrol hit a road side bomb early on Wednesday in Duluiya, north of Baghdad, a US military spokesman said.

On Tuesday two US marines and two US soldiers were killed in action in Anbar province, an area west of Baghdad.

At least 896 US soldiers have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq in March 2003, according to a count of names of the dead, released by the Pentagon. The latest deaths raise the toll to 901.

Al-Anbar clashes

Of the soldiers killed in Anbar, the US Central Command said they died in action “while conducting security and stability operations” in the region that includes the troubled town of Falluja.

The military also announced the death of one army soldier who was killed in action on Monday. Another soldier died on Tuesday of wounds received earlier, the command said.

The continuing toll is a reminder that Iraqi resistance is far from vanquished.

Though US President George Bush announced in May last year major combat was over, US-led forces continue to come under regular attack in Iraq.

Source: News Agencies