The US military announced on Saturday the deaths of four soldiers, including three who were killed in a roadside bombing in Baghdad that also left two Iraqis dead.

Two soldiers were killed when their vehicle was struck while on patrol in Baghdad while a third injured in the attack died later of his wounds, the military said in a series of statements.

It gave no further details of the incident.

The military had earlier reported the death on Friday of another soldier, who sustained injuries in a rocket or mortar attack south of Baghdad.

Four other soldiers were wounded in Friday's "indirect fire" attack, it said. The US military uses the term "indirect fire" to refer to rocket or mortar attacks.

The latest death brings the military's losses in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion to 3,996, according to an AFP tally based on independent website icasualties.org.

PHOTO CAPTION

A US soldier patrols an area south of Baghdad on March 18.

AFP