BAGHDAD, July 22 (Xinhua) -- One United States soldier was killed and another wounded on Tuesday morning in an ambush along a road north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

　　The Central Command said the incident occurred around 9:00 a.m. (05:00 GMT) when a convoy from the U.S. Army's 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire on the road between Balad and Ramadi, 100 kilometers west of Baghdad.

　　Both Balad and Ramadi lie in the area populated by minority Sunni Muslims, from whom ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein once drew much of his support.

　　U.S.-led coalition forces have been under repeated attacks in recent weeks by what US senior military officials believe to be die-hard loyalists of Saddam.

　　Tuesday's attack brought to 39 the number of U.S. soldiers killed in action since US President George W. Bush declared an end to major combat in Iraq on May 1, and 153 the number of U.S. soldiers killed in the entire Iraq War, which broke out on March 20. End