The U.S. military says seven American soldiers and one airman were killed in attacks in Iraq Saturday as coalition forces continue offensives to clear insurgents from areas north and south of Baghdad.
In the deadliest incident, four soldiers died and their Iraqi interpreter was wounded when a bomb exploded near their vehicle northwest of Baghdad. Two soldiers and an airman were killed in other roadside bombings. Another soldier was killed in Baghdad when his vehicle came under small arms fire.
A separate military statement says troops killed seven terrorists and detained 10 suspects during operations targeting al-Qaida in Iraq leaders the past two days. The statement says troops conducted raids and seized weapons and munitions around Tikrit, Fallujah and Baghdad.
The U.S. military also says troops raided a safe house in Baghdad's Sadr City district and detained three militants suspected of ties to Iran.
The U.S.-led coalition announced that a detainee died at a military prison hospital on Friday from wounds he sustained during an insurgent attack on that detention facility two weeks ago.
In other news, Iraqi lawmakers have voted to extend parliament's current session from the end of this month until the end of July.
The lawmakers are under pressure to pass key measures aimed at promoting national reconciliation.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
