Eight killed in Baghdad attack

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A roadside bomb blast killed eight Iraqi civilians and wounded 13 others -- including two women and two police officers -- in southeastern Baghdad Saturday morning, according to an Interior Ministry official.

The attack happened in the mostly-Shiite Jisr Diyala area, near where a double bombing on Wednesday killed eight and wounded 25.

U.S.-led coalition forces early Saturday captured a man described as a senior militant extremist involved in weapons smuggling, kidnapping and roadside bombings against U.S. troops, with alleged ties to an Iranian intelligence cell.

Two armed militants were killed and 14 others described as admitted criminals were captured in the operation in the village of al Fawwaliyah, northwest of the mainly Shiite town of Khalis -- in the Diyala province about 40 miles (65 km) north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

The senior militant who was captured was "a splinter group leader, who was not honoring Muqtada al-Sadr's pledge to cease attacks," the military said.

Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in August ordered a temporary suspension of his Mehdi Army militia's activity, which has included battling with police and rival factions.

The two men killed in the operation were armed and "failed to comply with instructions and warning shots," the military said, adding the duo were allegedly involved in weapons procurement, kidnapping operations and attacks against coalition forces using explosively formed penetrators -- high-tech devices that the U.S. military believes are smuggled from Iran, though Iranians deny the charge.

The U.S. soldiers found "several automatic weapons, a sniper rifle, maps and ammunition magazines" inside the building where the militants were captured, the military said.

"The area was further assessed to be a substantial militia extremists' compound used to coordinate criminal activity in the area," the military said.

Meanwhile, a U.S. soldier was killed by small arms fire during a combat operation in the northern Iraqi city of Balad on Thursday, according to the U.S. military.

The 39-year-old enlisted soldier was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, based at Fort Hood, Texas, the military said.

His death brings the number of U.S. military deaths in the Iraq war to 34 this month and 3,841 for the war. E-mail to a friend

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh contributed to this report.