Five U.S. soldiers die in Baghdad bomb blast

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Five U.S. soldiers were killed and three others wounded in a bomb blast in central Baghdad on Monday, the U.S. military said, in the worst single attack on U.S. forces in Baghdad in months.

An Iraqi interpreter was also wounded in the explosion, which hit the soldiers while they were on foot patrol, the military said in a statement.

Iraqi police said the soldiers had been walking in the street in Mansour district when a suicide bomber wearing an explosives vest walked up to them and blew himself up.

A police official at Baghdad's Yarmouk hospital said nine wounded Iraqis had been admitted, including a policeman. They had spoken of a suicide bomber who had exploded among the Americans, he said.

The U.S. military said four soldiers were killed in the blast and one died later of wounds. It did not confirm the cause of the explosion.

"We remain resolute in our resolve to protect the people of Iraq and kill or capture those who would bring them harm," said Colonel Allen Batschelet, chief of staff of U.S. forces in Baghdad.

(Writing by Ross Colvin, editing by Paul Tait)