The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Baghdad

Eight US soldiers were killed in separate attacks in Iraq on Monday in one of the deadliest days for the US military in several months.

In one attack, insurgents killed three US soldiers and their translator in Iraq's restive province of Diyala where a massive American and Iraqi military sweep has been targeting Al-Qaeda militants for several months.

The military said another soldier was also wounded in the blast.

The Diyala attack that took place on Monday was announced by the military on Tuesday.

On Monday however the military said five US soldiers were killed and three wounded in a suicide attack earlier in the day in the once upscale neighbourhood of Mansur in Baghdad.

The Baghdad attack was the deadliest on American troops in two months.

"Five US soldiers were killed today when their dismounted patrol was struck by a suicide bomber. Three US soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter were wounded as well," military spokesman Lieutenant Michael Street said on Monday.

A separate US military statement said one of the five soldiers died of wounds received from the attack that occurred at around 3:00 pm (1200 GMT).

The latest deaths bring the US military's death toll since the March 2003 invasion to 3,983, according to an AFP tally based on independent website www.icasualties.org.

The previous major attack against US troops was on January 9 when six US soldiers were killed when they entered a booby-trapped house in Diyala.

The previous deadliest day for the military was August 22, 2007, when 14 American soldiers were killed in northern Iraq after their Blackhawk came down during a pre-dawn flight.

An Iraqi security official said two civilians were also killed in the Baghdad suicide attack on Monday while 15 others were wounded and around six shops were damaged.

An Iraqi soldier at the scene told how he and his comrades had raced to the blast area to help.

"We rushed to the spot and saw six casualtiest five Americans were killed and one translator was wounded," said the exhausted soldier, his trousers drenched in blood after helping carry the victims.

He spoke on condition of anonymity as he drank tea at a nearby stall to calm his nerves.

Witnesses said a convoy of five or six military vehicles stopped in front of Al-Jadarji building in the Mansur district and a group of soldiers walked to the opposite side of the road to buy clothes from a shop called Al-Anaka.

After around 10 minutes, the men left the shop and the bomber struck.