3 American soldiers killed in Iraq

The U.S. military said Saturday that three American troops were killed, including a soldier whose patrol was struck by a roadside bomb in Baghdad.

The Multi-National Division _ Baghdad soldier died and another was wounded Saturday when an improvised explosive device struck their patrol in a northern section of the capital, according to the statement.

Earlier this week, members of the unit conducted raids in northern Baghdad to disrupt militia activities resulting in the detention of 12 suspects, the military added, as U.S. and Iraqi forces gear up for a major neighborhood-by-neighborhood sweep aimed at quelling the spiraling violence in the capital.

A Task Force Lightning soldier assigned to 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division was killed Friday by a roadside bomb while conducting combat operations in the northwest province of Ninevah, the military said in a separate statement. Two other soldiers were wounded, it said.

A Marine assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5 also died Friday from wounds sustained due to enemy action in the Sunni insurgent stronghold of Anbar province, the military said.

The names of those killed were being withheld pending notification of relatives.

The deaths raise to at least 3,033 members of the U.S. military who have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.