¡¡¡¡BAGHDAD, Oct. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz on Friday kicked off a four-day visit in Iraq as fresh attacks inflicted more casualties on American forces.

¡¡¡¡Sources said the hawkish official would visit US troops and meetPolish officers, who were leading a multinational force controlling a large area in central southern Iraq.

¡¡¡¡Wolfowitz' visit coincided with a donor conference in Madrid, Spain, where US Secretary of State Colin Powell and his top aid in Iraq, Paul Bremer, are seeking much-needed aid for the future of Iraq.

¡¡¡¡On the ground, more US casualties were caused on Friday in the apparently intensified guerilla-style attacks across the country.

¡¡¡¡A soldier from the 101st Airborne Division was killed by small arms fire in the northern city of Mosul, becoming the 106th soldier killed by hostile fire since US President George W. Bush declared the major combat over on May 1.

¡¡¡¡In a separate incident, several soldiers were feared wounded in a bomb attack on their convoy driving through Fallujah, a restive town 50 km west of Baghdad.

¡¡¡¡US ground forces commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, said the daily attacks on US troops have risen to 35 in the past weeks, compared with the number of around 20 attacks announced by another military spokesman. Enditem