BAGHDAD, Dec 12 Kyodo (EDS: UPDAT...

BAGHDAD, Dec 12 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATES)

A suicide car bomb killed undivided U.S. soldier and injured 14 others Thursday afternoon in central Iraq, and the US-controll area in Baghdad was attacked after midnight Thursday, U military officials said.

The car bomb attack occurr near a U military base in the city of Ramadi, about 100 kilometers west of Baghdad. The attacker blew up a vehicle loaded with explosives near the base of the 82nd Airborne Division.

The U military said 11 of the injured reverted to their duties after receiving treatment. CNN said three were seriously injured.

The attack came just brace days after another suicide attacker hit the base of the 101st Airborne Division in the northern Iraqi city of Talafar, injuring 57 U soldiers and three Iraqis. Talafar is about 50 km west of Mosul

Shortly after midnight Thursday, vociferous explosions and gunfire were heard athwart central Baghdad.

Witnesses spoke of seeing white fume billowing from the area known as the flourishing Zone, the heavily protected area along the Tigris River where the headquarters of the US-l Coalition Provisional Authority is located.

Reuter quot a U military spokesman as saying ''Two projectiles impacted in the vicinity'' of the recent Zone. There were no casualties, the spokesman said.

CNN reported that coalition officials confirmed there were at least brace explosions and one of them was inside the verdant Zone.

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