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The number of United States military personnel killed in Iraq since the US-led invasion five years ago has passed the 4,000 mark.

The latest to die were four soldiers whose patrol vehicle was blown up by a bomb in southern Baghdad on Sunday.

The deaths bring the total to 4,000, according to the US military and independent monitoring groups.

In other violence, Baghdad's Green Zone came under fire, and a suicide bomber killed 13 Iraqi soldiers in Mosul.

In Baghdad, the heavily-fortified Green Zone suffered sustained mortar and rocket fire, which killed at least 15 civilians.

The US military said it killed 12 militants preparing suicide attacks in a house east of Baquba.

The bloodshed comes despite an overall reduction in violence since last June.

That was when the US deployed an extra 30,000 troops in violence-hit areas - the so-called "troop surge".

But Sunday's violence underlines the fragile, reversible nature of the apparent improvements in security, say correspondents.

Huge blast

At least 40 people were injured in Sunday's early-morning suicide strike in Mosul.

The suicide attacker ploughed an explosives-laden tanker into the army base, causing a massive blast.

Iraqi and US soldiers have been engaged in a major offensive in Mosul, which US commanders say is al-Qaeda's last urban stronghold in Iraq.

In another deadly attack, at least seven shoppers in a Baghdad market were killed when gunmen travelling in three cars opened fire.

Our correspondent says previous rocket attacks on the Green Zone have been blamed on rogue elements of Moqtada Sadr's Mehdi Army militia, which is supposed to be observing a ceasefire.

Also on Sunday, the US military said it had killed 12 men in a raid east of Baquba city, in Diyala province.

Spokesman Major Winfield Danielson claimed six of the men killed were found to have shaved their bodies, which he said was "consistent with final preparation for suicide operations".

He added that a cache of weapons and ammunition had also been found in the raid and destroyed. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/7310924.stm

Published: 2008/03/24 03:17:23 GMT

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