A US soldier was killed and five were wounded when an assailant fired at least one rocket-propelled grenade at them in the restive Iraqi town of Falluja yesterday, the US military and residents said.

The attack took place as the United States sent more than 3,000 soldiers from the 2nd Brigade and dozens of tanks to the Sunni Muslim town to contain attacks on its forces.

A US military spokesman said two American soldiers had also been wounded in Baghdad when two attackers fired on them as they were guarding a bank. No details were available.

There are now an estimated 6,000 US soldiers in and around Falluja, including more than 4,000 from the 2nd Brigade.

Residents said the soldiers were in front of the police station when they were hit. The explosion made a hole in the outside wall, and pieces of wreckage and intravenous drip bags were on the ground.

Blood stains were visible on the wall and ground.

Iraqi crowds gathered in front of the station and raised the Iraqi flag on the entrance.

"The Americans are behaving like the Israeli army. They have been here every night, looking over our homes and preventing us from moving," Falah, a resident, said.

"This is a tribal area and we do

not accept this. The attacks have nothing to do with Saddam," he said.

The army said the wounded soldiers, from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, had been driven to a military medical facility nearby.

Falluja, 70 km (45 miles) west of Baghdad, is a cauldron of hostility to US forces, who killed 15 townspeople in two clashes there in April, following the fall of Saddam.

Troops, boosted by more armored cars, were out in force in the streets. Soldiers searched houses as residents were told to stay inside. The army plans to deploy more tanks in the city.

"One second you could be sitting down and the next someone is attacking you from out of nowhere. This is not like the war, when we attacked them," Specialist Terry Martin said.

Last week, two US soldiers were killed and nine wounded when gunmen attacked an American army unit with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms in the city.

The top US commander in Iraq, Lieutenant General David McKiernan, said on Wednesday that attacks on US troops in the area were the work of remnants of Saddam's government, toppled by US and British forces eight weeks ago.

Residents of Falluja disagreed, saying the United States did not understand the nature of Falluja, or

Iraq.

"Saddam's Baath Party was hated here. It used to extort money from us. Services, such as power, were appalling. But people worked hard in smuggling, agriculture and contracting and did well. They do not stand occupation," a shop owner said.

"The Sunnis have taken up the mantle of resistance," he said. "The Shi'ites are giving the United States a chance for now. But they will follow."