4 US soldiers killed; militants shell Green Zone

BAGHDAD — Bombardments by suspected militants killed four U.S. soldiers Monday as troops tried to push Shiite fighters farther from the U.S.-protected Green Zone and out of range of their rockets and mortars.

At least 44 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq in April, making it the deadliest month for U.S. forces since September.

The U.S. military said three soldiers were killed in eastern Baghdad by indirect fire, a reference to mortars or rockets. The statement did not give an exact location for the attack, but the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City has been the scene of intense fighting recently with Shiite militiamen.

A fourth U.S. soldier was killed by a shell in western Baghdad, the military said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, speaking before the U.N. Security Council, accused Iran and Syria of trying to destabilize Iraq.

A showdown between the Iraqi government and the Mahdi Army _ led by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr _ has increasingly drawn U.S. forces into battles. American commanders are particularly focused on trying to curb a rise in mortar and rocket attacks on the Green Zone.

At least three more salvos hit the Green Zone in central Baghdad, but there were no reports of injuries. In Sadr City _ the stronghold of the Mahdi Army militia _ U.S. soldiers battled deeper into the district a day after fierce clashes that killed at least 38 suspected militants, the military said.

U.S. soldiers killed seven more extremists Monday after coming under small-arms fire in Sadr City, the military said. Four of the suspects were killed in an airstrike and three others by an Abrams tank crew, according to a statement.

On Monday, 30 Iraqi lawmakers from various political parties urged Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to end the monthlong confrontation, saying innocent civilians and children were the main victims of the fighting.

"Yes, you can do it if you remember your own children," said a joint statement read by Mustafa al-Heeti, a Sunni member of parliament. "Your people (are) are demanding of you to intervene and solve the crisis peacefully."

Their appeal came after U.S. forces, backed by Abrams tanks and Bradley armored personnel carriers, fired on insurgents positions in Sadr City. The military said 38 militants were killed. Iraqi health officials said 58 people, including five children and eight women, were injured.

The fighting erupted after militants took advantage of a sandstorm to unleash a barrage of 107 mm rockets and 82 mm mortar shells at the Green Zone, which includes the U.S. and British embassies and some key Iraqi government offices.

The near-daily shelling of the Green Zone has become acutely embarrassing for both Iraqi authorities and the U.S. military.

Rather than mount an all-out assault, U.S. commanders have tried to limit the shelling by walling off the southern third of Sadr City and trying to put the Green Zone out of range of light rockets and mortars.

Chinese-made 107 mm Katyushas have a range of about five miles, while 82 mm mortars can exceed three miles. Much of the Green Zone is more than five miles from firing positions beyond the new wall.

"It's a tried and true strategy that we'll continue to prosecute here because it has worked well in other locations, and we think it'll work well here," said Brig. Gen. Will Grimsley, an assistant division commander.

Col. John Hort, who commands U.S. troops on the southern edge of Sadr City, said the heavy sandstorm sharply limits sensors and targeting lasers on helicopters and unmanned drones used to identify firing positions.

At the United Nations, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad on Monday accused Iranian-backed groups of launching numerous attacks on Iraqi civilians and multinational forces this year. He also said estimates suggest that 90 percent of foreign terrorists enter Iraq through Syria.

"Iran and Syria must stop the flow of weapons and foreign fighters into Iraq," Khalilzad said in a report to the Security Council on behalf of the multinational force in Iraq.

Iraq's U.N. Ambassador Hamid Al Bayati told reporters "we know (there is) interference by neighbors. I can't state names, but we know some neighbors are helping militias, armed groups."

The Iranian and Syrian governments have repeatedly denied trying to destabilize Iraq and insist there is no proof.

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Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer contributed to this report from the United Nations.