BAGHDAD, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- A US soldier was killed and anotherwounded near Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit on Monday, the USmilitary said.

¡¡¡¡"A 4th Infantry Division soldier was killed and one wounded in an improvised explosive device near Tikrit," said a US spokesman.

¡¡¡¡The bomb attack occurred at 2:40 pm (1140 GMT) Monday, he added.

¡¡¡¡Meanwhile, the death toll from a helicopter crashlanding after it was shot by an unidentified weapon on Sunday rose to 16 while 20 others wounded.

¡¡¡¡A US military spokesman could not confirm if all the casualtieswere American soldiers but US officials said they most likely were.

¡¡¡¡The latest deaths brought to 138 the number of US soldiers killed by hostile fire in Iraq since US President George W. Bush declared the major combat over on May 1. Enditem