BAGHDAD, Dec 13: Four US soldiers were killed in Iraq on Tuesday as bloodshed clouded expatriate voting in a landmark election aimed at restoring full sovereignty and ultimately taking foreign troops home.

The soldiers were killed just 24 hours before Iraq enforces a full-spectrum of draconian security measures in a bid to minimize bloodshed when 15.5 million Iraqis go to the polls on Thursday.

Many hope that a first full-term legislature since the 2003 invasion and the fall of Saddam Hussein will restore stability, draw disaffected Sunnis back into politics and undermine support for the insurgency.

The four US soldiers were killed when a bomb exploded alongside their patrol northwest of the capital, the military said.

A police commando and a businessman working with the US army were killed in separate attacks.

The latest assaults on US targets coincided with the second anniversary of the capture of former president Saddam Hussein near his home town of Tikrit, north of Baghdad. —AFP