US Death Toll in Iraq War Hits 4,000

A roadside bomb yesterday killed 4 US servicemen, hiking the American death toll in the Iraq war to at least 4,000, AP reports. Another soldier was wounded in the blast, which came less than a week after the fifth anniversary of the war. At least 61 other people died in attacks across Iraq, including a day-long bombardment of the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad.

The attacks followed clashes last week between US and Iraqi troops and factions of the Mahdi Army, the biggest Shiite militia loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The violence highlighted the fragility of recent gains. "We are always quick to note that the progress is tenuous and that it is reversible," said US Gen. David Petraeus. (More Iraq stories.)