BAGHDAD - Three more US soldiers have been killed fighting in Iraq, the latest deaths in an ongoing surge in American casualties, the US military reported on Thursday.
One soldier died Wednesday of wounds received in enemy action in Ramadi, in the insurgency-prone western Anbar province, while another was killed the same day in Baghdad when gunmen attacked his patrol.
Meanwhile, a military policeman was killed when the vehicle he was in was hit by an improvised explosive device near Balad, a violence-wracked town in northern Iraq which is the centre of a major security operation.
Total American fatalities have reached 73 since the beginning of the month, while the number who have died since the start of the war has climbed to 2,779, according to an AFP count based on Pentagon figures.
10/19/2006 14:09 GMT