8 dead in Iraqi guerrila attacks

Guerrillas fired a mortar round that hit the Sheraton Ishtar Hotel in Baghdad on Wednesday where many Westerners were staying, a US soldier ...

Guerrillas fired a mortar round that hit the Sheraton Ishtar Hotel in Baghdad on Wednesday where many Westerners were staying, a US soldier said. ‘‘A mortar round hit the top of the Sheraton,’’ the soldier said. No casualties were reported.

Meanwhile, three US soldiers died in a blast north of Baghdad on Wednesday, while a suicide car bomber killed four other people in Arbil. The bombings came hours after US aircraft and artillery blasted suspected guerrilla hideouts in Baghdad in an attempt to flush guerrillas from the city of five million.

A roadside bomb ripped through a US Military convoy driving on a highway near Samarra, killing three soldiers and destroying their vehicle, the military said.

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In Arbil, a suicide car bomb blew up at the entrance of the local Interior Ministry headquarters, killing the bomber, two policemen guarding the facility, a passerby and a 13-year-old girl. A Kurdish official said more than 100 people were wounded. The US-backed government’s building was damaged in the blast.

Prior to the blast at the Sheraton, witnesses said they had seen insurgents fire at the hotel from a car.

They said two cars sped away after the attack as security guards and US troops opened fire. A private security adviser said there was some damage to the roof of the hotel, but he said no one was hurt. — (Reuters)

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