Baghdad  - At least nine people were killed and 29 injured in two separate blasts in the northern Iraqi province of Mosul, police said Tuesday.

Seven people died when a man drove a truck laden with explosives towards a police station in the northern city of Mosul, police told dpa, the German news agency.

The explosion, which also left 25 people injured - including nine policemen, took place in the district of al-Mahata, south of Mosul.

Iraqi security forces have arrested more than 100 insurgents in Mosul, some 400 kilometres north of Baghdad, since they began Operation New Hope on February 20.

The insurgents have responded with near-daily attacks in and near the city, which remains among Iraq's most dangerous.

Later, another bomb in Mosul went off killing two Iraqi soldiers and injuring four civilians. The bomb went off in the al-Akhaa district of eastern Mosul, police told dpa.

Meanwhile, the US Army said Tuesday in a statement that one soldier died in Anbar province in a non-combat related incident, raising the US fatalities in March to eight soldiers.

"The incident is under investigation," the statement added.

The death brings the number of US soldiers who have been killed in Iraq since March 2003 to 4,262. (dpa)