BAQUBAH, Oct 25: Six US soldiers were wounded on Saturday in two separate attacks in the Baqubah region, northeast of Baghdad, witnesses said.

Two US soldiers were wounded in a roadside bombing against their convoy near a bridge in downtown Baqubah, 65 kilometres northeast of the capital, the witnesses said.

The explosive charge blew up when a US coalition convoy passed near a bridge in the city center, the witnesses said.

“There was a huge explosion. I saw two soldiers wounded and a Humvee was destroyed,” said Hassan Mohamad, 40.

“Two soldiers were hurt and their vehicle overturned and landed on the side of the road,” said Omar Khalil, 37.

An AFP correspondent on the scene said US troops, backed by local police forces, cordoned off the area and blocked the bridge.

US forces detained 15 local residents, tied their hands behind their backs and forced many of them to lay face down on the ground, he said.

Earlier on Saturday, four US soldiers were wounded in a rocket-propelled grenade attack against their convoy in the industrial area of al-Hai al-Sinai, six kilometres southwest of Baqubah, witnesses said.

“Shortly after 4:00 (1300 GMT), a rocket-propelled grenade landed on a convoy,” said retired army serviceman Ibrahim Jalil.

“Four soldiers were wounded and retrieved from the vehicle that was targeted by the rocket,” said resident Dani Elwan, 28.

“The US forces cordoned off the area and combed the neighbourhood,” he added.

TWO KILLED: Elsewhere, a guerilla assault on US troops near Fallujah turned deadly for bystanders on Saturday.

A translator and a bodyguard were killed and their employer, an American engineer, was seriously wounded when soldiers opened fire after a bomb exploded near their Humvee, said Laith Yussif Abdel Rassoul, who survived the attack.

The vehicle in which the victims were travelling was hit by bullets and burst into flames, Abdel Rassoul said.

Two other GMC jeeps were also struck but did not catch fire.

Abdel Rassoul said his three colleagues worked for ELS, a US electricity company.

The translator was completely burnt and remains unidentified, said Dr Maytham al-Kubeissi at Fallujah’s hospital.

The American suffered serious injuries, including fractures to both legs, and was taken to Ibn al-Nafis hospital in Baghdad, the doctor said.

In Tikrit, US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz praised efforts to build up an Iraqi defence force.

The hawkish US official met members of the new Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, which like its counterparts in the police, is woefully under-funded.

POLICE CHIEF KILLED: The police chief in the southern Iraqi city of Amara has been shot dead outside a mosque, a spokesman for British forces who patrol the area said on Saturday.

Guerillas have frequently targeted Iraqi police officers, seeing them as collaborators with US-led forces occupying Iraq. But southern Iraq has seen far fewer attacks than other parts of the country.—Agencies