Gunmen have shot and killed a tribal chief and member of the US appointed local council in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
Sheikh Talal al-Khalidi's son was also killed in the incident, which follows a spate of attacks in Mosul on Iraqis working under the administration.
A grenade was thrown at Iraqi policemen when they arrived to investigate the killing. One policeman was wounded.
Three US soldiers were killed in separate incidents north of Baghdad.
A roadside bomb killed one soldier and wounded another when it hit a convoy near Baquba, about 65 km from Baghdad, and a second soldier was killed trying to defuse a bomb outside the town.
In a third incident, a soldier died in Baquba when his vehicle struck a home-made bomb.
Two others were killed and at least four more injured yesterday in a mortar attack on an army base near the same town.
A spokesman revealed this morning that the attack happened at about 6.15pm local time (1515 Irish). An officer in Baquba gave the number of wounded at six.
US artillery immediately counter-attacked, but no casualties were reported.
Today, two Polish soldiers were wounded in a bomb and mortar attack on their convoy outside a military base south of Baghdad.
A remote-controlled bomb exploded underneath one vehicle, and a mortar-round was fired at the vehicles at the same time, when the convoy was returning to base shortly after midnight.
One soldier was wounded in the hand and another in the leg. They are said to be in serious but stable condition in a Baghdad hospital.
