U.S. soldier killed in blast south of Baghdad

By The Associated Press

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The explosion happened near Iskandariyah, 35 miles south of Baghdad.

Also yesterday, the death toll from weekend suicide attacks on Kurdish offices in northern Iraq rose to 101.

The rising death toll from Sunday's suicide attacks on the offices of the main Kurdish parties in the northern town of Irbil was expected to complicate further the process of ending the occupation of Iraq and choosing a provisional government.

Both the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan lost several senior politicians, and analysts said they expected Kurds to press harder for autonomy for the parts of northern Iraq they control.

A spokesman for the U.S.-led authority in Iraq said the number killed in Irbil had risen to 101 from a previously estimated 67, while the number of wounded was 133, fewer than previous accounts of more than 200.

The attacks — by bombers with explosives wired to their bodies — were the bloodiest since at least Aug. 29, when a vehicle bombing outside a Shiite mosque in Najaf killed more than 85 people. Some estimates have placed the Najaf death toll much higher.

U.S. Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said the U.S. investigation has not determined who was behind the attacks in Irbil, though he would not rule out either Ansar al-Islam or al-Qaida.

Kimmitt, deputy chief of staff for operations, also said there had been an average of 23 engagements each day over the past week between U.S. forces and Iraqi insurgents, a slight increase over the figure of 18 reported last week.

Earlier yesterday, insurgents fired two rockets at Baghdad International Airport but caused no casualties, the U.S. military said.

The airport is used as a major base for the military.

West of Baghdad, in Ramadi, witnesses reported insurgents fired mortars after sundown but caused no damage.

Police said they thought the attack was aimed at the home of Ramadi's police chief, Ji'dan Mohammed al-Alwani.

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