Surge in Iraq violence kills more US troops

Four US soldiers have been killed along with scores of militants following two days of fighting in the Baghdad slum of Sadr City and rocket fire elsewhere in the capital.

The latest casualties, announced yesterday, make April the deadliest month in Iraq for the US military since last September, with at least 44 soldiers dying, according to a toll by the Associated Press.

Casualties had declined in recent months in line with a sharp drop in violence. But attack levels have rebounded slightly in the past few weeks as Iraqi and US forces push into the Shia militia strongholds of Sadr City in Baghdad and Basra in the south of the country.

A rocket or mortar attack in east Baghdad killed three US soldiers yesterday. The US military did not give an exact location of the incident, but Sadr City lies to the east. The fourth serviceman was killed by a shell in the west of the capital.

Surge in Iraq violence kills more US troops