Report: Green zone mortar attack causes casualties in midst of curfew

Above: Lobby of the Al Rashid hotel. Left: The Al Rashid lies inside the 'green zone'.

Mortar bombs hit Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone on Thursday, police said, despite curfews imposed after suspected al Qaeda militants hit a revered Shi'ite shrine.

Thousands of Iraqi and U.S. soldiers were on the streets of Baghdad and other cities trying to enforce the curfews that were imposed after Wednesday's bombing, blamed on al Qaeda, felled the two golden minarets of Samarra's al-Askari mosque.

Police said more than a dozen mortar rounds hit the Green Zone, home to Iraq's parliament and the U.S. embassy, causing some casualties, but they had no further details. Smoke could be seen billowing into the sky from several areas.

A resident at the Rashid Hotel in the Green Zone said one mortar round fell in the hotel courtyard, killing one employee and wounding several. The hotel is home to some members of parliament, journalists and foreign contractors.

Read the rest at Reuters/Alternet

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