(AP)
Updated: 2007-08-07 20:15

BAGHDAD - Four more US soldiers were killed in roadside bombings in the Baghdad area, including three in a single strike, the military said Tuesday, raising to at least 19 the number of troop deaths in the first week of August.

An Iraqi woman reacts in front of a US soldier from the 2nd battalion, 32nd Field Artillery brigade patrolling in Baghdad August 6, 2007. [Reuters]

The numbers signaled a resurgence in attacks after July saw the lowest number of US casualties in eight months. US commanders have warned they expected militants to try to upstage a September report on military and economic progress in Iraq.

Iraq's political crisis also worsened as five more ministers announced a boycott of Cabinet meetings - leaving Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's unity government with no members affiliated with Sunni political factions.

Al-Maliki, meanwhile, arrived in Turkey for a state visit likely to be dominated by Turkish warnings to either crack down on rebel bases in northern Iraq or face a possible incursion. He was slated to travel to Iran on Wednesday.

The US military said three Task Force Marne soldiers were killed Saturday when a roadside bomb struck their convoy south of Baghdad, the military said.

One Multi-National Division - Baghdad soldier was killed and another wounded Monday when their vehicle was targeted by an armor-piercing explosively formed penetrator, or EFP, in a western section of the capital, according to a separate statement.

Washington has accused Iran of supplying Shiite extremists with EFPs to step up attacks against American forces. Tehran denies the allegations.

The military also said earlier that four soldiers were killed in a powerful combat explosion in restive Diyala province north of the capital on Monday.

The deaths raised to at least 19 members of the US military who have died this month, or a rate of about three per day, putting August on track for a heavier toll after a drop in July. Seventy-nine American troop deaths were reported, the lowest number since 70 killed in November.

More than 100 American forces died each month in the April-to-June period as the incoming US troops were deployed with the Iraqi army in Baghdad's dangerous streets and security outposts.

Despite the relatively low number in July, Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the US second-in-command, has blamed nearly three-quarters of the attacks on rogue Shiite militias the military believes are being armed and trained by Iran, which he said was increasing its support ahead of the pivotal report to be delivered to Congress in September.

Despite the new US accusations of Iranian meddling, the US and Iranian ambassadors met Monday for their third round of talks in just over two months. The US Embassy called the talks between Ambassador Ryan Crocker and his counterpart, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, "frank and serious."

The new cracks in al-Maliki's government appeared even as US military officials sounded cautious notes of progress on security, citing strides against insurgents linked to al-Qaida in Iraq but also new threats from Iranian-backed Shiite militias.

But it was al-Maliki's troubles that seized the most attention.

The Cabinet boycott of five ministers loyal to former Iraqi leader Ayad Allawi left the government, at least temporarily, without participants who were members of the Sunni political apparatus - a deep blow to the prime minister's attempt to craft reconciliation among the country's majority Shiites and minority Sunnis and Kurds.

The defense minister is from a Sunni background but has no political ties and was chosen by al-Maliki.

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