A series of bombings in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk have targeted three polling stations and a US military convoy. According to the Iraqi police force's General Sarhad Qadir on Thursday, the first bomb exploded at 8.10am (0510 GMT) near the police academy as a US military convoy was passing. He said there were no casualties nor serious damage. But a polling station was also bombed about 10km north of Kirkuk and two more in the east of the city were also damaged. The general said two civilians were wounded on Wednesday night by mortar rockets that fell near a police station at Kaza, about 10km south of the city. Further south in Tikrit, a bomb exploded in front of a police car on Wednesday night, killing one policeman and wounding another. **US, Australian toll*** A US soldier from the 1st Infantry Division was also shot dead in the early hours of Thursday morning at a forward operating base near the town Muqdadiya in Diyala province. The military statement did not elaborate on the circumstances. Elsewhere, eight Australian soldiers were wounded in a car bomb attack in Baghdad. The barracks housing Australia's military contingent also came under sniper attack, defence department officials said on Thursday. Defence Minister Robert Hill said a convoy of three armoured vehicles was transporting Australian officials along a Baghdad road known as Route Irish when it was attacked by what was believed to be a car bomb. He said eight soldiers were hospitalised with wounds ranging from lacerations to broken bones. The two most seriously injured would be airlifted to Germany for further treatment. Both the car bomb and sniper attacks occurred about 10am Baghdad time on Wednesday. **US soldiers raid Baghdad mosque*** US soldiers have attacked a mosque in Baghdad's Sadr City, violating its sanctity and arresting 25 Iraqis, Iraqi sources say. Shaikh Abd al-Hadi al-Darraji, a top aide of the Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr, told Aljazeera.net that what happened in Masjid al-Rasul (the Prophet mosque) revealed the real intentions of the US occupation forces. **He accused a US soldier of urinating on the Quran and another of consuming alcohol within the chambers of the mosque.*** "[This] is a great sin in Islam," al-Darraji said. "The action of the US forces just days before Sunday's election is a serious provocation and it reveals that the US is serious in insulting the Islamic values and imposing its culture on us. "They claim they are democratic people, but they are targeting us because we boycotted the elections and said it should not be held under occupation." **No comments*** Another official in al-Sadr's movement, Naim al-Qaabi, also accused US and Iraqi forces of tearing copies of the Qur'an during the operation and arresting 21 al-Sadr supporters. However, neither claims could be immediately verified and the interim Iraqi government issued a statement saying it was investigating the incident. The US military has not yet commented on the incident. Al-Sadr led a fierce anti-US uprising last year before toeing the pro-election line, then changed his position again later and vowed to boycott the elections as long as foreign troops remained on Iraqi soil. Earlier this month, thousands of al-Sadr supporters demonstrated in several cities to protest against petrol and electricity shortages, accusing the interim government of ignoring the people in favour of Sunday's elections. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Iraqi civilians with their hands bound with plastic cords are watched by US marines in Zaybac village near Falluja January 26, 2005. (Reuters)