Three US soldiers killed in Iraq

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Three US soldiers and an interpreter have been killed in fighting in eastern Iraq, the US military says.

It says the four were killed during combat operations in the volatile Diyala province, north of Baghdad, without giving any further details.

The area remains volatile despite an overall drop in violence in Iraq.

During his election campaign US President Barack Obama vowed to pull out US troops from Iraq within 16 months after taking the top job.

Mr Obama is soon expected to announce further troop cuts in Iraq, following his recent decision to deploy of up to 17,000 extra US troops to Afghanistan.

The president said the soldiers had been due to go to Iraq but were being redirected to "meet urgent security needs".

More than 4,200 US military personnel have died in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003.