This year deadliest for U.S. troops in Iraq

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Seven U.S. soldiers were killed in Iraq on Monday, the U.S. military said, making 2007 the deadliest year for U.S. forces in the country.

The deaths, one of the highest daily tolls in weeks, took the number of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq this year to 853. The worst previous year was 2004, when 849 deaths were recorded.

In total, 3,856 U.S. soldiers have been killed since the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003.

"We lost five soldiers yesterday in two unfortunate incidents, both involving IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices)," U.S. military spokesman Rear Admiral Greg Smith told reporters in Baghdad on Tuesday.

The military said both attacks took place in Kirkuk province near the volatile oil-refining city of Baiji, 180 km (112 miles) north of Baghdad. In the worst incident, four soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle.

A sixth soldier was killed in western Anbar province, once one of the most dangerous places in Iraq for U.S. troops but now seen as a success story for U.S. President George W. Bush's new Iraq strategy since Sunni tribes there turned against al Qaeda.

A sailor was also killed on Monday in an explosion during operations in Salahuddin province, the military said.

U.S. forces in Iraq say a major build-up of troops since February has helped stem sectarian violence and reduced the number of insurgent attacks on coalition forces.

Lieutenant-General Raymond Odierno, the second-ranking U.S. commander in Iraq, told a Pentagon briefing last week there had been a five-month decline in combat deaths.