BAGHDAD, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Three U.S. soldiers were killed and six wounded on Tuesday when a roadside bomb detonated near their patrol in Baghdad, the U.S. military said on Wednesday. The attack raised the death toll for U.S. forces in Iraq to 77 for the month of July. July was still the least deadly month since last November, a fact the military has welcomed as a sign that its new strategy of building up troops this year was having the desired effect. The military said the bomb, in the eastern section of the capital, was an "explosively formed penetrator," a particularly deadly type of armour-piercing device. Washington and U.S. commanders in Iraq have accused Iran of supplying militias in Iraq with such weapons. Iran denies the accusation.
Anti-war protesters hold pictures of South Koreans killed overseas during a candle-light vigil demanding negotiations between the U.S. government and the Taliban for the safe return of South Korean hostages in Afghanistan, near the U.S. embassy in Seoul, August 4, 2007. The Afghan government and Taliban kidnappers on Saturday sought a venue for negotiations to try to free 21 South Korean Christian hostages held for more than two weeks, the provincial police chief said. The slain Koreans (from L-R) are Kim Sun-il, killed by Iraqi militants in Iraq on June 22, 2004, Yoon Jang-ho, killed in a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan on February 27, 2007, Bae Hyung-kyu and Shim Sung-min, kidnapped and killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan on July 25, 2007 and on July 31, 2007 respectively. The banner reads: "How many more will be victimized? Stop the war and dispatch of troops which is causing the deaths!"