BAGHDAD - Three US soldiers were killed in two separate roadside bomb attacks on Wednesday in and around Baghdad, the US military said on Thursday.

Two of the dead were killed when a roadside bomb hit a foot patrol southwest of the capital. One more soldier was wounded.

In the other attack, a roadside bomb exploded near a patrol on a route clearance mission in eastern Baghdad. Two more soldiers were wounded.

The latest deaths take the number of US military deaths in Iraq since the start of the US-led invasion in March 2003 to at least 2,986.

Rising US casualties have contributed to pressure on US President George W. Bush to change his strategy in Iraq and set a timetable for a troop withdrawal. Bush has said he will announce a new direction in Iraq in early January.