US soldier killed in fierce Iraqi resistance

AN American soldier was killed and three wounded yesterday in separate roadside bombings which prompted a fierce eight-hour firefight where US attack aircraft, tanks and helicopters battled Iraqi resistance fighters.

The American military also announced the arrest of 92 people in a series of raids aimed at those responsible for attacks against Americans north of the capital. One of the raids included the largest joint operation between US military police and about 200 American-trained Iraqi police.

The two bombings hit military convoys in the dangerous Euphrates river towns of Habaniyah and Khaldiyah at about the same time.