A grenade attack killed three US soldiers and wounded four as they guarded a children’s hospital northeast of Baghdad.

Three more American soldiers have died in the last 24 hours in Baghdad as guerilla attacks targeting the occupation forces showed no signs of abating.

American forces scoured the desert today for two US soldiers who were apparently abducted from an observation post north of Baghdad.

An American soldier was shot dead today while on patrol in central Iraq, the US military said.