The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Baghdad

At least nine people including a US soldier were killed in different incidents in Iraq.

An American soldier died when his vehicle was hit by a roadside blast in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, the US military here said today.

The soldier was on a "combat patrol" in eastern Baghdad when he was attacked on Friday evening, the military said in a statement. It said the victim's name was being withheld until his family could be informed.

The latest deaths brought the number of US troops killed in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion to 4,066, according to an AFP count based on independent website www.icasualties.org.

Meanwhile, US forces killed at least eight Shiite fighters in a series of firefights in Baghdad's Sadr City, the bastion of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, the military said today.

The firefights which began 7:20 am (420 GMT) on Friday and continued sporadically throughout the day saw US forces use air support and tanks as they clashed with militants in the impoverished district of some two million people.

In one incident, an M1A1 Abrams tanks engaged "criminals" with one round from its main gun after Iraqi army soldiers reported being attacked by small arms fire from a house, the military said.

"Three criminals were killed in the engagements," the military said.

A Hellfire missile was also fired at the house, it added.

Later Friday, a US warplane also dropped a bomb and killed two others.

Three other militants were killed in other exchanges.

US forces have been clashing with Shiite militiamen since March 25 in Sadr City.

Hundreds of people have been killed since then, with followers of Sadr accusing the military of killing civilians.

US military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Steven Stover said the militants were using "innocent civilians as shields for their activity."

Baquba report adds: Iraqi and US forces have detained at least 75 people, including some Al-Qaeda militants, after twin bombings north of Baghdad which killed 35 people, an Iraqi army officer said on Saturday.

On Thursday, two suicide bombers blew themselves up within minutes of each other in the town of Balad Ruz in the restive province of Diyala during a wedding party.

Major General Abdel Karim al-Rubaie, head of the provincial military command, said security forces had arrested 75 people, some of them from Al-Qaeda in Iraq, in connection with the attacks.

"We conducted operations in southern Balad Ruz to clear the areas controlled by Al-Qaeda after the bomb attacks. We have cleared eight areas till now and detained 75 people, some of them are related to Al-Qaeda," he told AFP.

The US military on Friday accused Al-Qaeda in Iraq of carrying out the bombings which also wounded 66 people.

Diyala is one of the most dangerous regions in Iraq where US and Iraqi forces are battling Al-Qaeda militants for several months.