Three U.S. soldiers killed in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, March 22 (UPI) -- Three U.S. soldiers and two Iraqi civilians were killed in northwest Baghdad Saturday after a bomb hit a U.S. patrol vehicle, CNN reported.

Another Saturday roadside bomb hit an Iraqi police vehicle in northern Kirkuk and killed an Iraqi civilian and injured nine others, five of which were police officers.

Six men died in clashes with U.S. and Iraqi forces in Baghdad, the Kuwaiti news agency KUNA reported.

Fighting broke out in Kut, the capital of Wasit province, as security forces conducted a house-to-house search for rogue members of the Mehdi Army, the militia loyal to Moqtada Sadr, CNN reported. Sadr recently extended a cease-fire, but some rogue members have set up a base in Kut.

Two police officers and eight reputed fighters reportedly were injured.

A U.S. soldier died of wounds from indirect fire in southern Baghdad, military officials reported. Four soldiers were wounded.

A total of 3,996 U.S. soldiers have lost their lives since the beginning of the Iraq war March 19, 2003, the CNN report said.