U.S. soldiers take positions next to the burning vehicle in Fallujah (AFP)

FALLUJAH, Iraq, October 20 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - At least eight explosions were heard Sunday, October 19, from the U.S. military base in Fallujah 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Baghdad, while Iraqi police foiled an assassination attempt on a ranking Iraqi official.

Several blasts were heard from inside the camp at 8:00 pm (1700 GMT) and flares shot in the air by soldiers lit up the sky, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) correspondent reported, adding that the source of the blasts was not clear.

Earlier Sunday, an Iraqi was killed and another wounded when U.S. soldiers returned fire after coming under attack in the same flashpoint Iraqi city.

U.S. soldiers were removing a truck, hit earlier by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), when a second RPG whizzed by them at 3:00 pm (1200 GMT) and the troops returned fire, wounding two Iraqi bystanders, one fatally, an AFP correspondent witnessed.

Marwan Hayad al-Issawi, 20, later died of his wounds, said Fallujah hospital official Ahmed Kazem.

In the first attack Sunday morning, a U.S. vehicle exploded when Iraqi fighters  attacked a convoy apparently transporting weapons and ammunition in Fallujah, witnesses said.

There was no confirmation of the incident by U.S. troops, but an American military spokesman confirmed an attack on a vehicle that had broken down by Fallujah.

"It came under fire. There were no casualties," said Lieutenant Colonel George Krivo.

In the town of Khaldiyah, 30km west of Fallujah, An anti-tank rocket was fired at a U.S. convoy Sunday night, witnesses said.

The rocket struck at and gutted a Jeep, as the convoy moved through the town, Adel Majid, 28, told AFP.

U.S. soldiers retaliated by opening fire in the direction of the attack, the witness said.

Helicopters surveyed the area, as armored vehicles, Jeeps and troops were mobilized to the scene of the attack, Majid added but was unable to say whether the attack had caused any injuries.

Two American soldiers were also killed and one was wounded on Saturday night, October 18, in a rocket-propelled grenade attack near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, 260 kilometers (160 miles) north of the capital, and the hometown of ousted President Saddam Hussein.

The deaths bring to at least 103 the number of Americans killed in combat since U.S. President George W. Bush declared an end to major hostilities on May 1, according to an AFP count.

Assassination Thwarted

Elsewhere in Iraq, Iraqi police have detained Monday, October 20, a man accused of trying to assassinate the deputy governor of the Diyala eastern province by planting a bomb under his car.

"The police forces responsible for the protection of Deputy Governor Ghassan Abbas seized yesterday, (Sunday) ... a man who was hiding under his (Abbas') car," Diyala governorate official Talib Mohammad told AFP.

"The man was trying to plant an explosive charge, weighing about 25 kilograms (55 pounds), under the car," he said.

According to Mohammad, the detained man was an Iraqi resident of the al-Khalis district in Diyala, where Abbas lives.

During interrogation, the man admitted that his ultimate aim was "to harm the Americans," Mohammad added.

"Investigation continues with this person to know the real objectives behind his action and the party that finances him," he added.

Diyala governor Abdullah Shahad al-Jaburi escaped an assassination attempt less than a week ago, on October 13, when a roadside bomb exploded as he was on his way to work.

A number of political and religious officials have been the target of attacks, in some cases fatal, since the end of the U.S.-led offensive.