Baghdad attack kills US soldier

At least 34 US soldiers have died in Iraq since 1 May

One US soldier and an Iraqi translator have been killed in an attack in northern Baghdad.

They died when their vehicle was hit by an improvised roadside bomb and small arms fire in the al-Sulaykh area, a US military spokesman said.

The incident comes a day after two US soldiers were killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in the Kurdish-controlled area of northern Iraq, where strikes against American forces have been rare.

At least 34 US soldiers have been killed in action since President George W Bush declared major combat operations over on 1 May.

In a separate incident on Sunday, an Iraqi driver was killed and three other people were injured when a two-car UN convoy was fired on near the southern city of Hilla.

The US military says the attacks are carried out by hardliners loyal to the ousted President Saddam Hussein, who is believed to be in hiding in Iraq and issuing taped messages urging supporters to attack the Americans.

Tactical attacks

The BBC's Paul Wood in Baghdad says roadside bombs or attacks with rocket-propelled grenades are part of the daily reality for US soldiers in Iraq.

He said tactics include using a roadside bomb to take out a Humvee or other vehicle and the fleeing troops are then engaged in small arms fire. The attacker is then able to melt away into the local population.

The tactical awareness and frequency of the attacks means the situation is turning into the nasty, protracted guerrilla war and insurgency campaign that US commanders were always wary of, he says.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell acknowledged on Saturday that it would take some time to stem the "guerrilla-type" attacks, echoing assessments from US civil administrator Paul Bremer and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

The new chief of US Central Command in Iraq, General John Abizaid, plans to establish an Iraqi civil defence force to work with US soldiers.

During a visit to Baghdad, General Abizaid said the battalions would be trained by conventional US forces and could be ready to begin operating within 45 days.