The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Baghdad

At least 4 Americans including two U.S. soldiers were killed in different incidents in Iraq.

A disgruntled local official opened fire Monday on U.S. soldiers attending a municipal council meeting southeast of Baghdad, killing two of them and wounding four others, including an interpreter, U.S. and Iraqi officials said.

The assailant died in a hail of gunfire after the attack, which occurred in the town of Madain, also known as Salman Pak, about 15 miles south of Baghdad in an area with a history of Sunni-Shiite tension.

U.S. officials confirmed two American soldiers died and three were wounded.

There were conflicting reports over whether the interpreter who was wounded was Iraqi or American, U.S. officials said. Iraqi police and witnesses said the attack took place in front of the Madain municipal building where the Americans had come to confer with local authorities.

Meanwhile, a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman says two American government employees have been killed in an explosion at a local council building in Baghdad's Shiite Sadr City district.

Mirembe Nantongo says those killed Tuesday were civilian employees of the State Department and the Defense Department.

She has not released more details pending notification of their relatives.