A British soldier was killed and a second injured when their convoy was trapped between two angry crowds who fired with small arms and rocket propelled grenades in southern Iraq, the British military said yesterday.

　　The soldiers were returning from a raid when a crowd of about 30 people blocked their route in the town of Ali as-Sharqi at 9:45 pm on Wednesday, British Lieutenant Commander Richard Walters said.

　　The soldiers got down from their vehicles and fired two warning shots to disperse the crowds when the Iraqis attacked, killing one soldier and wounding the second, he said.

　　Two more US soldiers were killed in combat on Wednesday, and the relief agency Oxfam became the fourth major international organization to pull some or all of its foreign staff out of Iraq because of the increasing danger.

　　A day after the August 19 suicide truck bombing of the UN headquarters, which killed at least 23 people, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund said they were temporarily withdrawing some foreign staff. Many UN foreign workers also have left the country for now.

　　There are dozens of non-governmental aid and support groups working in Iraq.

　　Oxfam has been working on water and sanitation projects with UNICEF in Iraq.

　　"The risk level was becoming unacceptable for us, making it impossible for our programs to operate," Simon Springett, Oxfams program manager for Iraq, said.

　　"I think there's been a blurring of humanitarian and military operations in Iraq," he said. "It's setting a very dangerous precedent," the manager added.

　　The violence has hit Iraqis as well, with frequent carjackings and robberies. Gunfire and explosions are commonplace in Baghdad.

　　Two Iraqi policemen and three civilians were killed in a shootout with criminals early Wednesday in central Baghdad's Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves Square, a police official at that scene said.

　　The two US soldiers killed on Wednesday died in separate attacks in Baghdad and a city just to the west, the military reported. A third soldier was reported to have died separately of a non-hostile gunshot wound.

　　One US soldier was killed and three were wounded in a roadside bombing in Fallujah, 48 kilometers west of Baghdad. The military said the attack occurred at 7:10 am.

　　The second death of a US soldier came in a roadside bomb attack on a military convoy at 7:45 am in Baghdad.

　　The deaths brought to 281 the number of American soldiers killed since the war began on March 20. Since US President George W. Bush declared major combat over on May 1, 143 US soldiers have died - five more than during the fighting.

　　Meanwhile, in northern Iraq, US troops continued raids targeting forces loyal to Saddam Hussein's regime as part of "Operation Ivy Needle," military officials said.

　　The operation had been going on for two weeks, and included 55 raids that led to the capture of 390 Iraqis, 57 of whom were targeted Saddam loyalists, Baath party members, and Saddam Fedayeen militia, an infantry spokeswoman said.