Eight Iraqis were killed during a firefight with US troops near the town of Samarra, north of the capital Baghdad, the US military said. "Yesterday afternoon, southwest of Samarra, soldiers from the 1-8 Infantry Battalion killed eight attackers and wounded one," said Major Josslyn Aberle, spokeswoman for the US Fourth Infantry Division in Tikrit. Aberle said the Iraqis had "initially opened fire on the US troops" in what she termed as a "drive-by shooting". "The attackers fired on the soldiers with automatic weapons. They attempted to escape after the initial confrontation, the soldiers returned fire and pursued". She added 26 attackers were arrested following the incident and four vehicles were confiscated. Meanwhile, the New York Times reported, citing administration officials based on a document found with Saddam when he was caught, that the former leader had warned his Iraqi followers to be cautious of joining forces with "foreign Arab fighters" entering Iraq to combat American troops. In its Wednesday edition, the Times, citing US officials, said the document seems to be a "directive, written after he lost power", from the ousted president to leaders of the Iraqi resistance, warning them to be careful on "getting too close to Islamic jihadists and other foreign Arabs coming into occupied Iraq." The newspaper said this provides a "second piece of evidence challenging the Bush administration contention of close cooperation" between Saddam's government and activists belonging to Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network. According to the American paper, officials said Hussein apparently believed that the "foreign Arabs, eager for a jihad against the West, had a different agenda from the Baathists, who were eager for their own return to power in Baghdad". As a result, the report added, citing officials, Saddam wanted his supporters to be careful about becoming "close allies with the jihadists." **PHOTO CAPTION*** An armed Iraqi policeman stands on top of a bomb damaged wall as he guards the police station in Bouqouba, Iraq where a car bomb exploded Wednesday Jan. 14, 2004. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)