An explosion at a market in Baqubah, about 30 miles north of Baghdad late Thursday, has killed eight Iraqis and wounded another 13, a U.S. Army spokesman said.

The market was struck by mortar bombs according to U.S. military spokesman Sgt. Danny Martin. The attack came hours after the death of Aquila al-Hashimi, a leading figure in Iraq's Governing Council, whose shooting marked the first time violence claimed the life of a member of the U.S.-appointed administration.

In the north, eight American soldiers were wounded — three of them seriously — when their convoy was ambushed with roadside bombs and small arms fire in Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city.

Earlier Thursday, a bomb also damaged a hotel housing the offices of NBC News, raising fears of attacks against international media.

A Somali guard was killed and an NBC sound engineer was slightly wounded in the early morning explosion at the small al-Aike Hotel in the city's fashionable Karrada district.

Citing deteriorating security, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan ordered a further reduction in U.N. international staff in Iraq after two bombings at U.N. headquarters, including one on Aug. 19 that killed 22 people.

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