Four U.S. troops killed by roadside bomb – military

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Four U.S. troops were killed in a
roadside bomb blast north of Baghdad on Thursday, the U.S.
military said in a statement.

The soldiers, from a unit based in Tikrit, were killed in
the town of Samarra, 100 km (62 miles) north of Baghdad, the
statement said. No further details were provided.

More than 60 U.S. troops have died in Iraq this month,
including 14 killed by a powerful roadside bomb that hit an
armored Marine transport vehicle near Haditha, west of Baghdad.

Since the start of the war in March 2003, more than 1,850
U.S. troops have died in Iraq.

Roadside bombs have been the biggest killers of U.S.
forces, being responsible for more than a third of combat
deaths, according to the U.S. military.

In recent months, U.S. officials say insurgents have
developed more powerful bombs, similar to “shaped charges,”
which concentrate the blast in a small area and make it
possible to penetrate armor plating.