American soldier killed in central Iraq

One American soldier was killed and 12 others injured in a rocket attack today on an Army base in central Iraq, the US military said.

The rocket landed inside a logistics support base of the 4th Infantry Division in Balad, 80 kilometres south of the division’s headquarters in Tikrit, an Army statement said.

It said two of the injured soldiers are in a serious condition. Following the attack, troops detained 16 people including four women for questioning, it said without elaborating.

Tikrit, the hometown of Saddam Hussein, is part of the Sunni Triangle, where most of the anti-U.S. insurgency has taken place.

The death raised to 523 the number of US soldiers killed in the conflict in Iraq.