An American soldier was killed when his convoy came under fire from a rocket-propelled grenade Thursday on a main supply route in Iraq, the U.S. military said. The soldier, whose name was not released, was evacuated to the 21st Combat Support Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to a brief statement from the U.S. Central Command. The Pentagon reported that the soldier was part of a convoy that was attacked about 25 miles north of Baghdad. The soldier was in the last of about a dozen vehicles when it was hit by the grenade. The announcement comes after a sharp escalation in clashes between Iraqis and U.S. troops in recent days. The latest death brings to nine the number of American soldiers who have died around the country this week. Nearly two dozen others have been wounded. **U.S. Troops Arrest 11 People in Baghdad*** Meanwhile U.S. troops raided the Palestinian Authority's mission in Baghdad and arrested 11 people after ransacking the building, a Palestinian official said Thursday. A top U.S. general said eight people were arrested. The detained men included charge d'affairs Majah Abdul Rahman, who was running the mission in the ambassador's absence, mission official Mohamed Abdul Wahab said. They were taken to a U.S. base in the center of the city and have not been released, he said. "They even took all of our water bottles and food cans," Wahab said. "They behaved like common thieves." U.S. troops have conducted numerous sweeps against suspected criminals and loyalists of Saddam Hussein's regime. Wednesday's raid was believed to be the first such action against a foreign diplomatic mission. Wahab said dozens of U.S. troops escorted by several armored vehicles arrived at the building in Baghdad's embassy district Wednesday morning. After the guards opened the gate, soldiers burst into the building and detained officials, drivers and gardeners. The soldiers seized three AK-47 assault rifles that were used to guard against looting that laid waste to much of the capital after it fell to U.S. troops, Wahab said. The rifles and a handgun, which was also confiscated, were properly licensed by Iraq's former government, he said. "Every embassy has guns, we used them to ward off looters," Wahab said. "To attack a foreign embassy is a criminal act and a breach of diplomatic immunity." Gen. David McKiernan, commander of U.S. ground forces in Iraq, confirmed Thursday that troops entered the diplomatic compound. "That happened in a part of Baghdad where we lost a soldier," he told reporters. McKiernan said seven Palestinians and a Syrian were detained, adding that he did not know how many had diplomatic status. Troops seized four AK-47s, four hand grenades, and a .38 caliber pistol, he said. Wahab said the soldiers used shotguns to blast open office doors, though he said all were unlocked or had keys in them. Many of the doors in the building bore the marks of combat boots and several had their locks shot off. An embassy safe appeared to have been opened after the door hinges had been broken off, and file cabinets were standing open with all of their contents removed. An official photo of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was smashed on the floor. Wahab said the soldiers took away two embassy flags. He said the troops had told staff that the mission did not have permission for its automatic weapons. **Iraqi Shi'ites Protest at Alleged U.S. Arrests*** More than 500 Shi'ite Muslims marched in Baghdad Thursday to protest against the alleged arrest of several of their clerics by U.S. forces. No comment was available from the U.S. military on whether they had made any arrests. Some of the protesters distributed a leaflet from the previously unknown "military wing" of al-Hawza, the powerful Shi'ite religious seminary in the shrine city of Najaf. The leaflet said U.S.-led forces would be targeted by suicide bombers if they carried out further arrests. "We warn them that the promised day for the Intifada ... is approaching, when we will turn our bodies into bombs to blow up the wheels of the invading occupiers," it said. The demonstrators said U.S. forces had arrested several of their clerics in Najaf and Hilla, south of Baghdad. "We ask America to release all the prisoners," one protester said. Shi'ite clerics could not be reached to comment on whether the Hawza has a military wing or on the leaflet's authenticity. The leaflet cited grievances aired by many Iraqis about insecurity, joblessness and lack of basic services seven weeks after U.S. and British forces toppled Saddam Hussein. It said the Americans had promised Iraq "heaven on earth." Instead, Iraqis had seen "nothing but deception and the criminal Saddam's oppression in an American face." "America is the mother of treachery and these English people are atheists and history is repeating itself," chanted the crowd, referring to an anti-British Shi'ite revolt in 1920. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Iraqi protesters clad in white religious robes chant slogans hostile to the United States a follow during an anti-American demonstration in Baghdad on May 29, 2003. The protesters accuse the USA and Britain of humanitarian crimes in Iraq. (Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)