Five US soldiers killed in Iraq

At least five American soldiers have been killed in Iraq, the single largest loss of life for the US military in nearly two years.

The US military said in a brief statement that “five US service members were killed Monday in central Iraq,” giving no additional details about where the incident occurred or how they died.

Iraqi sources announced earlier that five rockets hit the American Camp Victory base in the outskirts of the capital, Baghdad.

Monday’s fatalities were the worst single toll for American troops in Iraq since May 11, 2009, when a US soldier shot dead five of his comrades on a base just outside the Iraqi capital.

According to the independent website, www.icasualties.org, the latest deaths bring to 4,459, the number of American soldiers killed in Iraq since the 2003 US-led invasion of the country.

Washington officially ended combat operations in Iraq in August last year and according to American officials, the current role of the US army is to advise and help Iraqi security forces.

But despite claims by the United States that it no longer engages in combat actions in Iraq, there have been numerous reports of involvement of the US troops in military operations in the war-torn country.

There are currently about 50,000 US soldiers in Iraq, who are due to leave the country by the end of this year in line with the 2008 US-Iraq Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA).

At the time, several prominent Iraqi figures, among them Muqtada al-Sadr, protested the passing of the SOFA accord, arguing that it violates Iraq’s sovereignty and legitimizes the occupation.

The pact was initially expected to be put to a nationwide vote in 2009. However, the Iraqi government, under US pressure, decided against the referendum.