AN AMERICAN soldier was shot dead in central Iraq early yesterday, the tenth to be killed in as many days in a hit-and-run attack.

The latest incident occurred near the town of Balad, 55 miles north of Baghdad. The total number of US military killed since the end of hostilities is 38. At least eight have been killed by hostile fire.

Forces from the US Army’s 3rd Infantry Division are to be deployed soon in trouble spots, such as Fallujah and Habaniyah in central Iraq, to root out die-hard paramilitaries loyal to Saddam Hussein.

Fallujah has been the scene of several attacks. Anti-American sentiment has soared since clashes in April, when soldiers killed 18 people in two days of unrest.

Coalition officers said, however, that they were facing “cohesive” resistance from members of the fallen regime, who were singling out soft targets, such as military convoys and patrols for attack.

Lieutenant-General David McKiernan, the commander of coalition ground forces, said that while the main battles were won, the war was not yet over.

The number of attacks has almost tripled in the past month. Two US soldiers were wounded in Baghdad on Sunday night, when attackers threw a grenade at their armoured vehicles and opened fire with automatic weapons. Two Iraqis died.

Four American soldiers and four civilians were taken captive briefly by Iranian Armed Forces on the Shatt al-Arab waterway while picking up Iraqi oil workers. The United States said that the group might have moved into Iranian waters. They were blindfolded and interrogated before being released.

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