Five US soldiers killed in Iraq

Five US soldiers have been killed in central Iraq, the US military has said.

It gave no further details but Iraqi sources said there had been a rocket attack on Camp Victory on the outskirts of Baghdad.

Washington officially ended combat operations in Iraq last August, leaving fewer than 50,000 US troops in Iraq, and US fatalities have been rare.

The role of the US army, which is due to pull out of Iraq on 31 December, is to advise and help the security forces.

Extended stay?

The military statement simply read: “Five US service members were killed Monday in central Iraq.”

The names of the deceased are being withheld until next of kin have been informed.

Agence France-Presse news agency quoted an interior ministry official and an Iraqi police officer as saying five rockets had struck Camp Victory, but this has not been confirmed.

An independent count of US service member fatalities in Iraq now stands at 4,459.

A large number of the 50,000 US troops in Iraq are due to leave in the summer.

However, during a visit in April, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said American troops could, if required by Iraq, stay in the country beyond the withdrawal date of the year end.

Violence has reduced in Iraq over the past few years, but there are still regular attacks and bombings.

The US military has seen much-reduced casualties, although two US soldiers died when an Iraqi soldier opened fire on them in a training exercise in January.