A mortar blast tore through a market north of Baghdad, killing eight civilians, and a US soldier was killed in an ambush in the north of the country as the American-led coalition struggles to maintain order five months after the ouster of former president Saddam Hussein.
Amid the continuing violence, Iraqis prepared to bury an assassinated member of Iraq's Governing Council.
The blast occurred about 9pm. Thursday at a market in Baqouba, about 50km north of Baghdad. Eight civilians died and another 18 were wounded, the Army said. Troops of the US 4th Infantry Division rushed to the scene to help.
In Baghdad, the US military said one soldier from the 173rd Airborne Brigade was killed and two others were wounded during an ambush in northern Iraq. The incident occurred about 11pm Thursday when a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at their vehicle. The names of the victims were withheld pending notification of kin.
The death raised to 86 the number of US soldiers killed by hostile fire since May 1, when President George W. Bush declared an end to major combat in Iraq. Two hundred Americans have died in combat here since the US launched military operations here on March 20.
Meanwhile, Iraqi leaders prepared to bury Aquila al-Hashimi, one of three women on the 25-member Governing Council, who died Thursday of wounds suffered in an ambush near her home on Sept. 20. A convoy carrying her body left the capital Friday for the funeral in Najaf, a Shiite holy city 180km to the south.
Al-Hashimi, a Shiite Muslim, was the first member of the council targeted for assassination and was the leading candidate to become Iraq's ambassador to the UN. She was to have attended the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly in New York this week.
The council declared three days of mourning that began on Thursday. In a written statement, it said al-Hashimi "fell as a martyr on the path of freedom and democracy to build this great nation. She died at the hands of a clique of infidels and cunning people who only know darkness."
The current council president, Ahmad Chalabi, blamed her death on Saddam loyalists.
Al-Hashimi died on a day when violence blamed on opponents of the US-led occupation targeted Iraqis and foreigners alike. Early Thursday, a bomb damaged a hotel housing the offices of NBC News, raising fears of attacks against international media. A Somali guard was killed and an NBC sound engineer was slightly wounded in the early morning explosion at the small al-Aike Hotel.
The commander of US forces in Iraq, Lieutenant-General Ricardo Sanchez, has warned he would use whatever force necessary to defeat those who attack American soldiers.
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