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5 soldiers killed, 7 wounded in patrol attack

BAGHDAD — Five American soldiers were killed and seven wounded in a coordinated attack in southern Baghdad involving a roadside bomb and rocket-propelled grenades, the U.S. military announced Friday.

The soldiers were on a combat patrol when a roadside bomb exploded near them Thursday, the military said in a statement. Shortly after the blast, insurgents attacked with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades, it said.

All seven wounded soldiers were evacuated to a military hospital, and one has since returned to duty, the military said. The victims’ names were withheld pending family notification.

The deaths brought to 99 the number of U.S. troops who have died in Iraq this month, according to an Associated Press count. The death toll for the past three months — 329 — made it the deadliest quarter for U.S. troops in Iraq since the war began in March 2003.

The British military issued a statement Friday saying all of its bases came under attack from mortars or rockets in the past 24 hours, but there were no casualties or damage.

Britain maintains a force of about 5,500 troops based mainly on the fringes of Basra, Iraq’s second-largest city, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad.