Iraqis search the debris of a burned out  U.S. truck in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, April 29 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Eleven U.S. soldiers and seven Iraqi civilians were killed in separate attacks across Iraq on Thursday, April 29, as a new poll indicated Iraqis want a swift end to the occupation of their oil-rich country.

"Today at 11:30 am, coalition forces were operating in the vicinity of Mahmudiyah when they were attacked by a car bomb," a U.S. military spokesman said, identifying the so-called coalition forces as U.S. Army personnel.

"Eight soldiers were killed and four wounded," he was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Shortly before dawn, a U.S. soldier was killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in eastern Baghdad, reported the Associated Press quoting a military statement.

Major Neal O'Brian of the 1st Infantry Division said one soldier was killed and another wounded in a bomb attack in the restive town of Baquba, northeast of Baghdad.

However, Aljazeera television put at two the number of occupation forces killed at the Baquba attack, brining the overall death toll to eleven.

Spiraling attacks by resistance fighters have killed more than 125 U.S. troops in April alone.

Seven Civilians Killed

A U.S. Marine Cobra gunship helicopter flies towards the city of   Fallujah, where four civilians were killed

Three Iraqis of the same family were slain when U.S. soldiers fired missiles in response to a mortar attack on their base in Beiji district in northern Baghdad, the Arabic-language network said.

In the western Baghdad city of Fallujah, passengers in a car passing a U.S. military checkpoint came under fire from American soldiers.

An eyewitness said four people were killed.

Heavy Armor

After a request from military commanders on the ground, Washington sent additional heavy tanks and armored vehicles to Iraq to combat the recent upsurge in resistance attacks, reported the BBC News Online.

BBC Pentagon correspondent Nick Childs said the move marks a sharp reversal of strategy, and highlights American concern about the escalating violence in Iraq.

The reinforcements being sent to Iraq include 28 giant M1 Abrams tanks and reflect the inadequacy of the standard military personnel transporter in Iraq, the Humvee, to deal with roadside bombs and rocket-propelled grenades.

Newsweek reported this week that an unofficial study by a defense consultant found that of a total of 789 U.S.-led soldiers killed as of April 15, 142 were killed by land mines or improvised explosive devices, while 48 others died in rocket-propelled-grenade attacks.