Seven U.S. Soldiers Die in Iraq Blasts

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foxnews.com

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Car bombs exploded Tuesday near a U.S. convoy patrolling in Baghdad and near a junior high school for girls, killing nine people, including three American soldiers, a day after 49 Iraqis died in a string of insurgent attacks.

The Americans were killed by a bomb-rigged car that struck a convoy about 1:30 p.m., said Sgt. David Abrams, a U.S. military spokesman.

The military also said four U.S. soldiers died in a separate homemade bomb attack south of Baghdad.

At least 1,637 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

Separately, a homemade bomb destroyed a Bradley fighting vehicle late Monday in Ramadi, west of Baghdad, wounding three U.S. soldiers. Two of them returned to duty while the third remained in a military clinic, said Sgt. Jeffrey Pool. None of the soldiers was seriously hurt.

Militants also gunned down two people and seized control of Tal Afar (search), a town 50 miles west of the northern city of Mosul, police said Tuesday, hours after two car bombs killed at least 20 people there late Monday.