5 US SOLDIERS KILLED IN IRAQ

BAGHDAD - A suicide car bomb and roadside bombings have killed five US troops, including three marines, the American military announced on Tuesday.

The latest deaths bring the US military's overall toll since the March 2003 invasion to 4,044, according to a tally based on independent website www.icasualties.org. The military has lost 32 troops since the start of this month.

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Two marines were killed and three others wounded when a bomber slammed his explosives-laden car into a checkpoint near the western Iraqi city of Ramadi at around 7:30 am (0430 GMT), the military said.

Two Iraqi policemen and 24 civilians were also wounded in the attack near the city, the capital of Anbar province, which was once the symbol of Sunni Arab insurgency against US forces.
A third marine was killed and another wounded in a separate roadside bomb attack in Basra on Monday, the military said in a separate statement.

This is the first US military loss in Basra since Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki launched a crackdown against Shiite militiamen there on March 25.

US forces have been sent to Basra to support Iraqi troops after fierce clashes broke out in the port city following the crackdown.

Basra and southern Iraq were under the overall command of British troops who late last year moved into one base near the city airport after handing over the province to Iraqi forces.
Another roadside bomb attack killed two US soldiers and wounded another two, as well as three Iraqis, in north-central Salaheddin province on Monday, the US military said.
The bomb detonated "during operations" in the province, the statement said without elaborating.

The Iraqis injured comprised two members of an "Awakening" anti-Qaeda front and an interpreter.