Baghdad  - Several al-Qaeda members were killed and arrested Thursday, while 19 other wanted members were arrested and one US soldier was killed in Iraq.

Three al-Qaeda members were killed, including a senior member, during a raid by US and Iraqi forces in Baaquba, 60 kilometers north-east of Baghdad, a source in the Iraqi army said.

The source told Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency that the Senior member is called Abu Huzaifa and carries a Tunisian nationality.

Earlier on Thursday, VOI reported that a joint security force killed five gunmen and arrested five others believed to belong to the al-Qaeda network during a raid in Baaquba.

In the south, security forces have arrested 19 wanted people and seized quantities of weapons during a raid condcuted in Basra.

Iraqi security forces have started search operations in Basra, 590 km south of Baghdad, to disarm gunmen after the clashes that broke out between US-backed government security forces and militiamen loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

Meanwhile, the US army said one soldier was killed after being attacked during a patrol in south of Baghdad.

A statement by the US army said "a coalition force soldier was killed by small arms fire during a patrol south of Baghdad".

The death brings the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq since the US-invasion of Iraq in March 2003 to 4091.

Of this number, seven soldiers have been killed in June. (dpa)