U.S. soldier, Iraqi interpreter killed by police in Mosul

BAGHDAD, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- An American soldier and an Iraqi interpreter have died as a result of small arms fire attack in Iraq's northern city of Mosul, the U.S. military said on Wednesday.

A military statement said the attack took place at approximately 2:00 p.m. local time (1100 GMT) on Tuesday during a meeting at an Iraqi police station in the city.

Three U.S. soldiers and a second Iraqi interpreter were also wounded by the attack, another military statement said without elaboration, adding the cause of the incident is under investigation.

"Injured personnel were taken to the Combat Support Hospital in Mosul, where the U.S. soldier died of his wounds," the statement said.

On Tuesday, a local police source said two Iraqi policemen opened fire on U.S. soldiers in the city, killing four of them and an Iraqi interpreter, before they fled.

On Feb. 9, a suicide car bomber killed four U.S. soldiers and their Iraqi interpreters in Mosul, 390 km north of Baghdad.

The attacks proved that violence continues in large parts of northern and central Iraq despite massive U.S. and Iraqi military offensive in the past year.

Mosul remains a stubborn stronghold of Sunni insurgency, including extremist militant group al-Qaida.

The latest death raised the toll of the U.S. soldiers who have been killed in Iraq to 4,251 since the U.S.-led invasion in Iraq in March 2003, according to media count based on Pentagon figures.