Five U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq: military

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Five U.S. soldiers were killed in attacks in Iraq on Friday, the U.S. military said on Saturday.

Four of the soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb while on patrol northwest of Baghdad, the military said in a statement.

The other soldier was killed by an explosion near his vehicle during an operation in northern Iraq, it said.

Thirteen U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq this month, according to icasualties.org, an independent Web site that tracks military deaths in the country.

Since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, 3,957 U.S. troops have been killed.

(Reporting by Dean Yates, Editing by Ralph Gowling)