Baghdad - The Iraqi soldier who killed 4 US soldiers on Wednesday was acting in anger after the Americans mocked him while he was praying, witnesses told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa Thursday.

Earlier reports about the incident in the northern city of Mosul had said that the Iraqi soldier opened fire on a group of US soldiers after a verbal dispute.

Praying five times a day is a religious obligation for Muslims. Men usually go to mosques to pray.

The Iraqi soldier himself was killed in the exchange of fire with the US troops.

The incident increased the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq in November to seven, raising the number of US soldiers who have died since the US-led invasion in 2003 to 4,197.

Also in Mosul, the unidentified body of a man was found in the west side of the city. The body had signs of gunshots, police sources said told the Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency.

In another incident, a bomb planted in a minibus killed a civilian and injured another six passengers inside the bus. The detonation took place in Mohamed al-Qassem street in south-eastern Baghdad, VOI reported. (dpa)