BAGHDAD, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. soldier was killed in a rocked attack on a military base in southern Iraq on Tuesday, the U.S. military said.

　　A military statement said the soldier was killed in the attack on his forward operation base near the city of Amara, some 370 km southeast of Baghdad.

　　Amara, capital of Maysan province, is a Shiite area where the Iraqi security forces, backed by U.S. troops, conducted a crackdown against Shiite militiamen.

　　About 4,144 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, according to media count based on Pentagon figures.