Tal Afar, Iraq, Sept 11, SPA -- Insurgents melted into thecountryside around Tal Afar, the militant stronghold nearthe Syrian border, and guns fell silent Sunday _ the secondday of an offensive by 5,000 Iraqi soldiers backed byAmerican forces and armor. In Baghdad, the director of police training at theInterior Ministry was gunned down in front of his home in awestern neighborhood as he waited for a ride to work. Maj.Gen. Adnan Abdul Rihman died on the spot, said local policecommander Maj. Musa Abdul Karim. The U.S. military said a Task Force Liberty Soldier waskilled in a roadside bombing before dawn Sunday while onpatrol near Samarra, 95 kilometers (60 miles) north ofBaghdad. Two soldiers were wounded. At least 1,897 membersof the U.S. military have died since the beginning of theIraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Presscount. In the southern city of Basra, Iraqi police Capt. MushtaqKadim said one British soldier was killed and two werewounded when a roadside bomb exploded near their convoy. A British military spokesman, speaking on the customarycondition of anonymity, said he could only "confirm thatan incident took place ... . The area has been secured andan investigation is ongoing." In the Tal Afar assault, Iraqi Interior Minister BayanJabr reported late Saturday that 141 insurgents had beenkilled since the operation began. Five government soldiersdied and three were wounded, he said. No Americans werekilled or injured in the first day of the all-out assault,the biggest military action in months. Col. Billy J. Buckner, a U.S. military spokesman, saidIraqi and U.S. troops had captured 211 terror suspects andconfiscated nine weapons caches since Aug. 26 when thejoint U.S.-Iraqi force began encircling Tal Afar, 420kilometers (260 miles) northwest of Baghdad.--SPA1143 Local Time 0843 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/288516