The US military confirmed today it had suffered one of its worst day of losses yesterday after 11 soldiers were reported killed.
A US military said five soldiers had been killed in a single roadside bomb blast in Kirkuk province. Details of the other six deaths were not immediately available.
The deaths brought to 30 the number of US soldiers killed since the start of the month.
Four Americans and an Austrian were taken hostage in southern Iraq today when a civilian truck convoy they were guarding was hijacked after crossing the Kuwaiti border, Iraqi security sources said.
Nine Iraqis were also abducted by the gunmen, but some of the Iraqis have been released.
A source in a militant group in Basra told reporters that it was holding the foreigners.
