At least sixteen people were killed and eight injured in a US air raid on Falluja on Saturday, medical sources told Aljazeera's correspondent in the western Iraqi town. A Falluja resident said US planes bombed a residential area. "An American plane fired at about 10:30 am (0630 GMT) on our houses," said a resident of the Jbail district of the city who did not want to give his name. An AFP correspondent said casualties were pulled from the rubble of four houses and taken to hospital after the raid. A US military source would not to comment on the report. "It would be inappropriate for us to comment at this time," he said. If confirmed as a US raid, it would be the first operation on the city 50km (30 miles) west of Baghdad since US marines withdrew in the beginning of May after a month of fierce clashes. A US delegation visited the city last week and signed a "Trust Memorandum". **US Soldier Killed Northeast of Baghdad*** Iraqi resistance fighters killed a U.S. soldier near the town of Baquba northeast of Baghdad on Friday evening, the U.S. military said on Saturday. U.S. occupation troops clashed Iraqi resistance fighters for a third straight day Saturday in the area. In another attack near the town of Tahrir, which is near Baqouba, Iraqis launched rocket-propelled grenades at an American patrol. The two wounded soldiers were evacuated to a military hospital. At least 13 Iraqis have been killed in the clashes that started Thursday when US forces moved into the town looking for Iraqi fighters. **Portuguese death*** Meanwhile in Basra, in southern Iraq, a roadside bomb blast has killed a Portuguese worker and two Iraqis, Iraqi police said. Police officer Abdullah Mohammed said the bomb was detonated as the Portuguese telecommunications worker's car drove past on a highway west of Basra, flipping it over several times. Witnesses said the vehicle targeted in the blast was of the type used by security guards protecting Iraq's oil infrastructure. "The body of a Portuguese man, registered under the name of Roberto Carlos, working for (telecommunications) company Al-Atheer, was brought to Basra hospital after an attack on the road to Zubair," said Ismail Mulla, an official with the emergency services. An Iraqi policeman assigned to protect oil installations and an oil worker were also killed in the attack, which happened about three kilometres south of Basra at about 9:15 am (0515 GMT), a local police officer said. The Iraqi driver of the all-terrain vehicle belonging to Al-Atheer, which runs telecommunications services in southern Iraq, was wounded, he said. Another police officer who did not want to be named, said the driver of another car caught in the blast was also hurt. **PHOTO CAPTION*** A U.S. Marine (L) stands watch over Iraqis in the town of Saqlawiyah, near Falluja, June 17, 2004. (REUTERS)