BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Five U.S. soldiers were killed and three others wounded in a bomb blast in central Baghdad on Monday, the U.S. military said, in the worst single attack on U.S. forces in Baghdad in months.
An Iraqi interpreter was also wounded in the explosion,which hit the soldiers while they were on foot patrol, themilitary said in a statement.
Iraqi police said the soldiers had been walking in thestreet in Mansour district when a suicide bomber wearing anexplosives vest walked up to them and blew himself up.
A police official at Baghdad's Yarmouk hospital said ninewounded Iraqis had been admitted, including a policeman. Theyhad spoken of a suicide bomber who had exploded among theAmericans, he said.
The U.S. military said four soldiers were killed in theblast and one died later of wounds. It did not confirm thecause of the explosion.
"We remain resolute in our resolve to protect the people ofIraq and kill or capture those who would bring them harm," saidColonel Allen Batschelet, chief of staff of U.S. forces inBaghdad.
(Writing by Ross Colvin, editing by Paul Tait)
