Two U.S. Army Bradley Fighting Vehicles are parked in front of a mosque in Fallujah

BAGHDAD, May 29 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - An American soldier was shot dead by "hostile fire" in Iraq on Thursday, May 29, U.S. Central Command said in a statement a day after 4 U.S. soldiers were killed when their helicopter was downed in the Iraqi town of Hit.

The man was killed "by hostile fire while traveling on a main supply route in Iraq today," Centcom said according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"The soldier was evacuated to 21st Combat Support Hospital where he was pronounced dead," Centcom said, adding that his name and unit were being withheld pending next-of-kin notification.

Fifth Corps was conducting an investigation.

His death brought to 20 the number of U.S. soldiers who have died in fighting or accidents in Iraq since May 1, the day U.S. President George W. Bush declared the war effectively over.

Four U.S. soldiers were killed in Iraq on Wednesday, May 28, when their helicopter was downed, as demonstrators in the capital slammed the American civil administrator’s decision to dissolve ministries of defense and information as well as the “provocative” acts of the occupation troops, Al-Jazeera reported.

Two U.S. soldiers died and nine others were wounded Tuesday, May 27, in a second day of guerrilla warfare when they came under attack in the flashpoint town of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, from a "hostile force of unknown size," CentCom said.

U.S. Occupation Troops Pull Out Of Hit

Meanwhile, the U.S. Army has pulled out of a police station troops had taken over in the Iraqi town of Hit, west of the capital, an AFP correspondent reported Thursday, a day after violent protests erupted.

U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police jointly held the building, which came under grenade and explosive attack Wednesday afternoon.

Two soldiers were lightly wounded, said Captain Paul Kurttner of the 3rd Armored Division.

He added that the army evacuated Wednesday evening "to avoid clashes with the population" in the town of 40,000.

The police station was ransacked and torched. In the courtyard, journalists saw the burnt-out shells of two trucks and two cars.

U.S. occupation troops have set up large camp some four kilometers (2.5 miles) from the town. Soldiers were not spotted making patrols in Hit on Thursday as they had done previously on a daily basis

"We want them to stay out of the town," said resident Ahmad Garbi.

The protests broke out after troops carried out house-to-house searches in Hit, 200 kilometers (120 miles) west of Baghdad, looking for a man who attacked a U.S. military vehicle Monday on the edge of the town.