A U.S. soldier was killed in Diwaniyah, where American and Iraqi forces have been battling gunmen for several days, the U.S. military said Monday. The soldier died Sunday, Col. Michael Garrett told reporters in the town 130 kilometers (80 miles) south of Baghdad. He did not elaborate on the circumstances surrounding the soldier's death, The Associated Press reported. At least 3,281 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. Mahdi Army fighters _ followers of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr _ have been battling with U.S. and Iraqi troops in Diwaniyah since Friday.
