A bomb blast west of Baghdad killed two US soldiers and one Iraqi on Thursday, while a young boy died the day before after rebels fired a rocket-propelled grenade in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, officials said.
Also in the past 24 hours, insurgents pounded the main prison in Baghdad with 33 mortar bombs and five rockets before US troops shot one dead and arrested 55, according to a US military spokesman.
And a bomb exploded Thursday morning in front of a US army convoy in Baquba, 60 kilometres (40 miles) north-east of the capital, injuring one Iraqi policemen.
The two soldiers from Taskforce All American were killed and one wounded in the bomb attack near Khaldiyah, 80 kilometres (50 miles) west of Baghdad, a military spokesman said.
"The soldiers died from an improvised explosive device and one Iraqi was killed as a result of this attack," he added, without giving further details.
The latest US deaths, added to a Pentagon toll, would raise to 263 the number of US soldiers killed in action since major combat in Iraq was declared officially over on May 1.
A total of 378 soldiers have died in combat since US forces first entered Iraq last March.
On Wednesday, a young boy died when guerrillas fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a US patrol in Tikrit, 180 kilometres (110 miles) north of Baghdad, a spokesman for the 4th Infantry Division, which patrols the area said on Thursday.
And near the restive town of Balad further south one insurgent was killed after he opened fire on a US patrol on Wednesday morning, while another two individuals were arrested, Cargie added.
In a busy 24 hours, rebels struck Abu Ghraib prison on the western edge of Baghdad late Wednesday night, a US military spokesman told AFP.
"Coalition forces engaged and killed one enemy, 55 people were detained for questioning," he said.
One soldier was lightly wounded and treated for his injuries, he added.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2004

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