Iraqi rebels strike in US quarters

Iraqi insurgents bombarded the heavily fortified headquarters for US military and civilian operations in central Baghdad in the early hours ...

Iraqi insurgents bombarded the heavily fortified headquarters for US military and civilian operations in central Baghdad in the early hours of Friday, the first attack on the sprawling compound in nearly a month.

The attack in Baghdad came shortly after midnight when loud noise shook the capital. Sirens wailed as loudspeakers warned residents in the complex to take evasive action.

The US Military could not immediately confirm what sort of munitions were fired, but sources said mortars were probably used to hammer the five kilometre square area, known as the Green Zone.

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‘‘There were four points of impact within the Green Zone,’’ a US Military spokeswoman said on Friday. ‘‘Two coalition force members were slightly wounded from flying debris, but the injuries are not life-threatening.’’

One building in the area, comprising dozens of palaces which were once part of Saddam Hussein’s presidential compound, was slightly damaged.

It was the first bombardment on the headquarters, which is protected by two-metre-high concrete walls, since mid-November, when guerrillas fired on the complex on several nights running. The assault came shortly after a suicide car bomb attack on a US Military base west of Baghdad which killed one US soldier and wounded 14. It was the third suicide attack on US forces in Iraq this week.

Meanwhile, US officials said Saddam’s Presidential Palace would be the likely site for the next US Embassy in Iraq. They added that US bombs never hit the palace. —Reuters