A US soldier was killed in Iraq overnight, a day after reinforcements were ordered to the area.
The soldier was killed and five wounded in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in the western town of Fallujah, the US military's Central Command said.
Extra troops are being sent to bolster the US-led coalition after several attacks. More experts have also arrived in Iraq to hunt for alleged weapons of mass destruction.
The ground forces commander in Iraq, Lieutenant General David McKiernan, announced yesterday he was deploying troop reinforcements to the Sunni Muslim tribal belt west of Baghdad to tackle the series of anti-US attacks.
The unrest is mainly the work of former elements of the ousted regime, he said, while acknowledging that other groups might be involved, including Saudi-influenced Islamic fundamentalists.
On May 27th, two soldiers were killed and nine wounded in Fallujah, a deeply conservative town where tension has been on the boil since US troops shot dead at least 16 protesters in April.
In all, 25 US soldiers have died in fighting or accidents in Iraq since May 1st, when Bush declared the war effectively over.
The head of Iraq's Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Army, set up by Saddam with the aim of liberating Palestinian territories from Israel, has been captured by coalition forces, Centcom said.
More than half the Iraqis listed as most wanted have been captured or surrendered to the coalition since the regime's fall on April 9th, although the fate of Saddam and two sons Uday and Qussay is unknown.