BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Anti-American insurgents killed a U.S. soldier and an Iraqi interpreter with a roadside bomb as they were carrying out a patrol west of Baghdad, the U.S. military said Monday.
The incident took place Saturday evening as a group of soldiers were moving through the volatile district of Abu Ghraib on the western outskirts of the capital.
"A Task Force 1st Armored Division soldier and an Iraqi interpreter were killed and three other soldiers were wounded during an (improvised explosive device) attack on March 21," a statement from the U.S. military said.
The deaths raise to 396 the number of U.S. soldiers and Marines killed in action since American forces invaded Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein a year ago.
Improvised explosive devices, in which explosive charges are hidden in soft drink cans, animal carcasses or other disguises and wired to a simple detonator, have become the most common and deadly technique used by guerrillas to attack U.S. forces.
By Hafiz Wazir
WANA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Suspected al Qaeda fighters attacked a Pakistani army camp early on Monday just hours after the military called a cease-fire to let tribal elders negotiate the militants' surrender.
Rockets were fired at the army camp in the western town of Wana, residents said. Militants and troops then exchanged fire for more than two hours.
"They fired rockets...then the army retaliated with artillery," one resident said.
There was no immediate word of casualties, though gunfire could also be heard from the area to the west of the town where troops and militants have been battling.
Fighting erupted last week after security forces moved in to hunt hundreds of al Qaeda suspects and their Pakistani tribal allies the army says it has surrounded in the desolate mountains west of Wana.
The battle, involving 5,000 troops, is the biggest Pakistan has ever waged in its semi-autonomous tribal border lands and is part of a major push to sweep foreign militants from the Afghan border region and catch al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.
A military spokesman in Islamabad declined immediate comment on Monday's clash but said government forces were still willing to call a cease-fire to allow a council of tribal elders, or jirga, to negotiate with the militants.
"The jirga are going to go in to ask militants to surrender. For this particular period, the security forces will hold their fire," said Major-General Shaukat Sultan, the spokesman.
In Afghanistan, U.S. troops have also stepped up their hunt along the border in what they call a "hammer and anvil" operation with Pakistan.
The Pakistani army has declined to give casualty figures although local officials have said about 30 soldiers and a similar number of militants have been killed since Tuesday.
At least 13 civilians have been killed. (Additional reporting by Amir Zia)