After the assassination of the Iraqi Vice-President's brother, Ghalib Abdul Mehdi, by the Sunni insurgents, six American soldiers and a marine were killed yesterday by the rebel forces, AP announces.

Four soldiers were killed by the explosion of a bomb in Youssifiyah, 12 miles south of Baghdad, and other two died near Balad. The American army also said in a statement that a marine was also killed near Amiriyah, 25 miles west of Iraq's capital.

A car bomb also exploded in Basra during evening Ramadan festivities Monday, killing at least 20 people.

It seems that these attacks are the Sunni insurgents' response to the American air strike which took place on Monday and killed six persons.

All these military actions confirm the statements made by the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in an interview for Der Spiegel, in which he said that the frequency of the attacks would increase as the elections approached.

According to the US army, October recorded the highest number of American casualties after January, more than 90 soldiers losing their lives.