October 24, 2003	Friday	Sha’aban 27, 1424

BAGHDAD, Oct 23: A bomb blast killed a US soldier and wounded two others on Thursday as troops struggled to break the network of guerilla cells waging daily attacks.

The attack on a Fourth Infantry Division convoy near Baquba, north of Baghdad, raised to 105 the number of US soldiers killed since major hostilities in Iraq were declared over on May 1.

The top US military commander in Iraq, Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez, said his forces were facing between 20 and 25 attacks a day, although, in the last three weeks, the number had, on some occasions, soared as high as 35.

On top of the threat posed by Saddam Hussein loyalists, the general warned that he expected more attacks from Ansar al Islam, an Iraqi group believed to be linked to the Al Qaeda network.—AFP