U.S. forces have been coming under intensive attacks over the past days

BAGHDAD, December 26 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – At least four American soldiers were killed and seven others injured in separate attacks in occupied-Iraq over the past 24 hours.

Two U.S. soldiers were killed Friday, December 26, in two separate incidents north of Baghdad, a U.S. military spokesman said.

One soldier was killed defusing a roadside bomb near Baquba, 60 kilometers from Baghdad, Captain Jefferson Wolfe was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The second was killed and another wounded when their military convoy hit a booby-trap explosive near Al-Duluiyah between Baquba and Samarra, he said.

In another attack, two American soldiers were slightly wounded Friday morning during a gun battle in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, a military spokesman said.

"We had an anti-IED (improvised explosive device) patrol come under small arms fire at about 7:55 am (0455 GMT)," Major Hugh Cate of the 101st Airborne Division told AFP.

"There were two U.S. soldiers medivaced, slightly wounded," he said.

The soldiers were patrolling for IEDs, the roadside bombs which are a favorite weapon of Iraqi resistance fighters targeting the U.S.-led occupation forces.

More Fatalities

Two American servicemen were killed and four others wounded late Thursday, December 25, in an Iraqi mortar attack on a U.S. military base near Baquba.

"Two Task Force Ironhorse soldiers were killed in a mortar attack at approximately 6:15 pm (1515 GMT)," said Major Josslyn Aberle.

"Four additional soldiers were wounded in the attack. All are in stable condition," she added.

An officer in Baquba gave the number of wounded at six.

He told AFP that U.S. artillery immediately counter-attacked after two 120-millimetre mortar rounds hit Camp Gabe.

U.S.-led forces launched an offensive in the Iraqi capital Thursday night after rockets, mortars, gunfire and bombs blasted Baghdad.

They marked the most serious resistance attacks since the capture of former president Saddam Hussein almost two weeks ago, the military said.

The 32,000-strong Taskforce Ironhorse, responsible for the provinces of Diyala, Taamim, and Salahuddin, is headed by the 4th Infantry Division.

Baquba, in Diyala, is a hotbed of anti-U.S. resistance where army bases have been periodically shelled by mortars over the eight-month resistance.

A mortar attack on the main U.S. base in Baquba in October struck the compound's recreation center, wounding about a dozen soldiers.

Polish Convoy Attacked  

Two Polish soldiers were wounded early Friday in a bomb and mortar attack on their convoy outside a military base south of Baghdad, the spokesman for the Polish military said.

A remote-controlled bomb exploded underneath one vehicle, and a mortar-round was fired at the vehicles at the same time, when the convoy was returning to base shortly after midnight, Colonel Zdzislaw Gnatowski said.

"One soldier was wounded to the hand and another to the leg. They are in serious but stable condition," he said, adding that the two had been taken to a Baghdad hospital.

Some 2,500 Polish soldiers are serving in Iraq alongside Spanish, Ukrainian and Latin American soldiers.

Two Polish soldiers have been killed so far - one accidentally and one in combat - since the U.S.-led war began in late March.