Roadside Bombs Kill U.S. Soldier, 9 Iraqis

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A spate of roadside bombings killed a U.S. soldier and at least nine Iraqis in Baghdad and north of the capital Saturday, officials said. Two Macedonians were kidnapped in southern Iraq, while a search was underway for a private German plane missing in the north.

An Iraqi police major, meanwhile, was assassinated by drive-by gunmen in the insurgent stronghold of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, in the latest attack targeting security forces that the United States hopes will eventually take control of Iraq.

The U.S. military said a roadside bomb struck an American vehicle at about 8 a.m. in eastern Baghdad, killing a soldier assigned to the Multi-National Division-Baghdad.

The death, the first reported by the command since Tuesday, took the number of U.S. personnel killed in Iraq to at least 2,273 since the Iraq war began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

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