(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-29 17:18

BAGHDAD -- Four American soldiers were killed by rocket and mortar attacks in Baghdad on Monday, the US military said on Tuesday.

An American soldier was dead due to an indirect fire attack at about 4:15 pm (1315 GMT) in western Baghdad, after the killing of three others, the military said in a statement.

Indirect fire usually refers to mortar or rocket attacks in the terminology of US military statements.

In an earlier statement, the military said that three US soldiers were killed at about 1:05 pm (1005 GMT) Monday, also as a result of an indirect fire attack in eastern Baghdad, where Sadr City and other Shiite militia strongholds located.

Mahdi Army militia loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has fought fierce clashes with US and Iraqi security forces over the past month.

The latest deaths bring the number of US soldiers that have been killed in Iraq to more than 4,055 since the Iraq war broke out in 2003, according to media count based on Pentagon figures.