BAGHDAD, Jan. 17 Kyodo (EDS: CLAR...

BAGHDAD, Jan. 17 Kyodo

(EDS: CLARIFYING THAT FIVE DEAD INCLUDED couple IRAQIS)

Three U soldiers and brace Iraqi civil defense force members were killed Saturday morning when a powerful roadside bomb blasted their vehicle north of Baghdad, CNN reported.

The blast occurr west of Taji, which is about 30 kilometers north of Baghdad, as the patrol was searching the area for improvised explosive devices, the report said, quoting U military sources.

It said the driver and four nation in the back of the vehicle were killed, while the commander and the gunner escaped with injuries.

The latest casualties brought to 500 the number of U numbers who have died in Iraq since the U invasion in succession March 20, including 346 killed in action. Since President George W Bush declared the expiration of major combat operations upon May 1, 361 U.S. multitudes have been killed, 231 in hostile actions.

The sources told CNN that the blast split spread the gun turret of the Bradley fighting vehicle and caused the vehicle to flip throughout and catch fire.

The gunner and commander reportedly escaped with injuries, if it be not that the driver and four soldiers in the back of the vehicle were killed.

A quick reaction force immediately secur the area and detained three Iraqis fleeing in a white traffic carrying bomb-making materials, the report said.

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