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Military kills seven as it takes the fight to Iraqi insurgents

One U.S. soldier and a civilian contractor also are killed Friday in sporadic combat.

BAGHDAD - U.S. troops stepped up their campaign against Iraqi insurgents Friday, killing seven people preparing to attack a U.S. base and dropping satellite-guided bombs, the military said. Elsewhere, rebels killed an American contractor and a soldier.

Iraq's growing lawlessness claimed more victims. A 1st Armored Division soldier was killed Friday and two others were wounded in a roadside bombing in central Baghdad, the military said.

Two 4th Infantry Division soldiers were killed Thursday and three others were wounded when their convoy was attacked with a roadside bomb near Samarra, the military said.

An American civilian contractor was killed and another wounded when gunmen attacked a convoy Thursday near Balad, 45 miles north of Baghdad, the military said. The victims were not identified.

In the south on Friday, gunmen fired on jeeps carrying Portuguese journalists, wounding one reporter and kidnapping another, Portuguese media reported. It was the first abduction of a journalist since the occupation began in May.

Distant explosions could be heard after sundown in central Baghdad, and the 1st Armored Division said they were part of "pre-emptive mortar fire" against insurgent positions.

A division spokesman said aircraft carried out some of the strikes. He would not specify the targets but said the operation was ongoing late Friday.

The seven Iraqi insurgents died Thursday night when a U.S. Apache helicopter fired on suspected Hussein supporters preparing a rocket attack on an American military base 20 miles north of Tikrit, the 4th Infantry Division said. U.S. soldiers later found hundreds of rockets and missiles there.

Along the Syrian border, U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter jets dropped two satellite-guided bombs Thursday night on a three-story building in Husayba used by insurgents to store ammunition and launch attacks, the 82nd Airborne Division said. American officials have long accused Syria and Iran of allowing fighters to enter Iraq and attack the coalition.

Elsewhere, three 82nd Airborne paratroopers were wounded Thursday night in a rocket attack near Fallujah, the division said. And three soldiers were wounded Friday when a bomb they were trying to defuse exploded in northwestern Baghdad, witnesses said.

U.S. troops blocked the road for about an hour and called over loudspeakers for Iraqis to help them capture the bombers. Troops also handed out leaflets offering $10,000 for information about insurgents.

In the north, soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division captured 14 "suspected terrorists," including eight who belonged to a cell whose leader plotted to kill a top coalition official, the military said.

Faced with a mounting security crisis, the U.S. military announced a policy this week of going after the insurgents with overwhelming firepower before they have a chance to strike.