U.S. soldier killed in Diala

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: One U.S. soldier was killed in a bomb blast in Diala on Wednesday, the fourth U.S. fatality during the month of July 2010, increasing to 43 the number of U.S. deaths this year. “A United States Division – North Soldier died today in Diala province when the Soldier’s vehicle was attacked with an improvised explosive device,” said a U.S. army statement received by IraqiNews.com news agency. The death has brought the number of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003 to 4,413, including 43 in 2010. Eight U.S. soldiers were killed in June 2010, only two of them in military operations while the others were said to have died in non-combat incidents. Six American soldiers were killed in May, eight in April, seven in March, five in February and five in January. Some 486 U.S. soldiers were killed in 2003, 849 in 2004, 846 in 2005, 822 in 2006 and a record high of 904 in 2007. The toll went down dramatically in 2008 to reach 314. Still, November 2004, the month that saw fierce clashes between U.S. forces and gunmen in the restive city of Falluja, Anbar province, is the month with the highest U.S. deaths: 137. SH (S)/SR 2