The deaths bring to 205 the number of U.S. soldiers killed in combat in Iraq since May 1 (AFP)

BAGHDAD, December 25 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Four U.S. soldiers were killed in northern and central Baghdad during the last 24 hours, as a series of powerful blasts shook the war-scarred capital Thursday, December 25.

A soldier from the 1st Armored Division was killed in a roadside blast while taking part in an operation in central Baghdad, the U.S. military said Thursday.

The attack came a few hours after three troops, all from Task Force Iron Horse, were slain in a roadside bombing near the restive city of Samarra north of Baghdad.

Their vehicle was hit by a homemade bomb of the sort favored by Iraqi resistance fighters, Brigadier General Mark Kimmit was quoted by Agence France-Presse (AFP) as saying.

The deaths bring to 205 the number of U.S. soldiers killed in combat in Iraq since May 1, when U.S. President George W. Bush declared the major offensive over.

Earlier Thursday, a roadside bomb exploded on a busy Baghdad street, blowing off the hand of a policeman and seriously wounding two other officers, fellow policemen told AFP.

Some civilians were also hurt in the blast, one of around a half-dozen attacks in Baghdad on Christmas morning, officers said, but they had no concrete information on the number of wounded.

In the meantime, the death toll from a suicide bombing in the northern city of Arbil rose to five along with 101 others injured.  A pick-up truck packed with explosives blew up outside Interior Ministry building in the city.

The force of the blast ripped a crater in the ground and blew out windows in buildings surrounding the ministry's offices in the northern city which is controlled by the Kurdish faction the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

A number of attacks have targeted policemen and officials seen by many Iraqis as collaborating with the U.S. occupation forces in the country. The Kurds fought with the American troops against the now-disbanded former Iraqi army and facilitated their driving into Baghdad from the north.

The violence that gripped northern Iraq also saw a policeman killed and an Iraqi shot dead as he tried to run a U.S. checkpoint in the city of Mosul late Tuesday.

Loud Explosions

A U.S. armored vehicle secure a commercial street in Baghdad (AFP)

Meanwhile, at least six powerful blasts followed by bursts of automatic gunfire shook central Baghdad early Thursday.

The U.S.-led military headquarters and the Sheraton Hotel were among several targets hit.

The hotel was also hit by mortar fire just hours earlier, but there were no injuries in either attack, U.S. military sources were quoted by the BBC NewsOnline as saying.

The Sheraton Hotel was targeted by what is believed to be a mortar shell or a rocket-propelled launcher, smashing windows and causing debris to rain down into the lobby.

The hotel - a sprawling complex of buildings - houses international media. U.S.-led contractors also use the hotel.

The explosions occurred just after dawn, shaking the windows of buildings in the centre of the city. Plumes of smoke could be seen rising across rooftops, and the sounds of ambulances could be heard.

An American military spokeswoman said there had been three or four impacts in the heavily fortified Green security zone, where the U.S. military headquarters is situated.

But she added that there were no reported casualties.

The blasts came amid warnings by the U.S. military that resistance fighters  might be planning high-profile attacks over the Christmas period.

Observers say the explosions could be in retaliation for waves of detention against local inhabitants the U.S. military claim they are responsible for resistance attacks.

Earlier, U.S. troops in Iraq bombarded southern districts of Baghdad in what they said was an attempt to flush out resistance fighters.

A raid was also taking place to search some 800 households for weapons stockpiles used to attack U.S. forces.

U.S. soldiers detained 27 individuals during the sweeps in Mosul.

The detentions came to add to anti-American sentiments rising among ordinary Iraqis jeered by the continued occupation of their oil-rich country and empty promises of better future after the overthrow of the former regime.

Seven months into the end of the offensive, no weapons of mass destruction – the main justification to invade the country - have not been found, raising wide skeptical fears that it was launched on false pretexts.