US soldier dies in grenade attack

A soldier from the US 4th Infantry Division died following a rocket-propelled grenade attack on a convoy north of the Iraqi capital, the military said today.

The attack took place about 9pm local time yesterday against a convoy near Samara, about 60 miles north of Baghdad, the military said. One injured soldier was rushed to a military hospital but died of his wounds.

The soldier was the third US trooper killed yesterday in Iraq. A woman soldier, also from the 4th Infantry, was killed in a roadside bombing in Tikrit.

A 1st Armoured Division soldier was shot dead last night on patrol in the al-Mansour district of Baghdad.

The latest casualties bring to 90 the number of US soldiers to die by hostile fire in Iraq since President George W Bush declared an end to major combat operations on May 1.