BAGHDAD - Attacks on US occupying forces mounted Friday, inflicting a growing toll on Iraqi civilians, as pro-US Iraq paid its final respects to its first assassinated official.

The US military confirmed that eight Iraqi civilians were killed and 18 wounded on Thursday night when a mortar was lobbed on a crowded square in Baqubah, northeast of Baghdad.

Al-Burtuqala Square, filled with shops and cafes and teeming with people in the centre of Baqubah, 70 kilometres (40 miles) from the capital, was struck by the bomb at 9:08 pm (1708 GMT).

A US spokeswoman said soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division rushed to the scene, administered first aid and evacuated the wounded to a nearby hospital.

Baqubah Police Lieutenant Abbas Khodeir said authorities did not know who had fired the mortar, which left no coalition casualties.

Within about 12 hours of that attack an 18-year-old, Dureid Hassan Alwan, and four friends came under fire from US troops who had been attacked by mortars, and Alwan was fatally shot, family members and witnesses said.

The shooting, at a village south of Baqubah, also seriously wounded a second youth, said witness Ahmad Abdel Latif.

A US military spokesman said he could not confirm the report, or another report that at least 10 more Iraqis were wounded by mortar fire which targeted a US site in Baghdad but hit houses instead.

US troops in Iraq have been attacked almost daily since an end to major combat operations was declared on May 1, particularly in the north, which is home to forces loyal to ousted president Saddam Hussein.

Near the northern oil centre of Kirkuk, a US soldier was killed and two wounded Thursday evening in a rocket attack on a military convoy.

A military spokeswoman said the dead soldier was from the 1-73rd Airborne Brigade and was killed by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) fired at the convoy near Kirkuk, 255 kilometres (153 miles) north of the capital.

She said the attack occured about 11:00 pm (1900 GMT) Thursday.

A soldier from the 4th Infantry Division also died, and another was injured, in a fire in an abandoned building near Tikrit, 175 kilometres (105 miles) north of Baghdad, she said.

It was not known whether the fire, which broke out about 7:15 pm (1515 GMT), was caused by hostile action.

The deaths were announced as an elaborate funeral procession stretching from Baghdad to the Muslim holy city of Najaf, south of here, got underway for Akila al-Hashimi, a member of the US-installed Governing Council who died Thursday from gunshot wounds received at the weekend.

About 100 mourners gathered in the council's chambers Friday for a memorial service for Hashimi, whose car was attacked with a bomb and machine-gun fire Saturday near her west Baghdad home.

Pall bearers wept openly as the casket was brought into the chamber, covered in the Iraqi flag. Security was tight outside with US, British and Australian soldiers, and Nepalese Gurkhas keeping watch.

"A sad occasion. Doctor Hashimi was a founder and leading member of the Governing Council and a leading advocate of democratic values that we and all Iraqis are trying to instill," said Nabeel Khoury, a spokesman for the Coalition Provisional Authority.

"At the same time, I see more solidarity coming out of this and a strong will not to let the criminals who did this block the progress toward full democracy," Khoury said.

Expressions of grief and shock poured in from all walks of life, from world leaders such as US President George W. Bush to neighbours of Hashimi who were barely able to choke back their emotions Friday. A White House statement Thursday said Bush expressed "deep regret" at Hashimi's death and added, "those who murdered her were attacking the efforts to create a peaceful, democratic, modern Iraq." Earlier US Secretary State Colin Powell, speaking at the United Nations, called Hashimi "an indefatigable fighter for the people of Iraq, and especially for the women of Iraq."