Two US soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter were killed when their convoy hit a roadside bomb in Baghdad, raising to 201 the US death toll in action since major hostilities were declared over May 1. The violence came as US soldiers arrested hundreds of suspected resistance fighters around central Iraq and Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski paid a surprise visit to the Polish military headquarters near Babylon in the south. Iraq's oil industry was jolted by another fire on a fuel pipeline, this time on an artery linking the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk and the country's largest refinery in Beiji. Nearly 90 acts of sabotage have exacerbated massive gas and electricity shortages in Iraq since Saddam Hussein was ousted from power in April. Two soldiers from the 1st Armoured Division and their Iraqi interpreter died Monday when their convoy struck a roadside bomb in Baghdad, a military spokesman said. The attack at 11:45 am (0845 GMT) marked the first troop deaths since a US soldier was killed and another wounded in an ambush in the capital last Wednesday. US civilian administrator Paul Bremer touted the benefits of the new offensive against Saddam's followers since the former president was arrested nine days ago. "We've been arresting quite a number of his cronies and colleagues, including one last night," Bremer said in an interview with NBC television. During one such raid, an Iraqi woman was killed as US forces blasted down a door during a raid in Rawa, in the restive Syrian-border region, the US military said in a statement Monday. The military said the incident was under investigation. The woman's death came as the US Armoured Cavalry Regiment kicked off "Operations Rifles Fury" in Rawa, a mission aimed "to kill or capture anti-coalition forces and destroy terrorist training camps." Also an Iraqi man was killed and another wounded Monday when a convoy of US soldiers opened fire on their vehicle just south of Tikrit, the survivor of the shooting told AFP. However, a US military spokesman said he had no reports of the incident which occurred near Saddam's hometown, 180 kilometres (110 miles) north of Baghdad. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division eat dinner along side a 'Christmas tree' at their base in Baghdad Monday, Dec. 22, 2003. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)