U.S. soldier killed in Iraq

A U.S. soldier was killed on Wednesday during operations in southern Iraq, the U.S. military said Thursday.

"A soldier assigned to United States Forces-Iraq was killed on December 8 while conducting operations in southern Iraq," the military said in a statement without giving further details.

The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of kin, it said.

The latest death brings the number of U.S. soldiers who have been killed in Iraq to about 4,430, since the breakout of the U.S.- led war on Iraq in 2003, according to media account based on Pentagon figures.

U.S. troops in Iraq had been reduced to below 50,000 soldiers. Washington said that the remaining U.S. troops will remain in Iraq to conduct support and training missions.

U.S. military forces are to pull out completely from Iraq by the end of 2011 according to the security pact named (Status of Forces Agreement, or SOFA) signed late in 2008 between Baghdad and Washington.

Source: Xinhua