Conflicting Reports: Heavy mortar barrage on Green Zone; U.S. says no deaths; Police say 3 dead, 25 wounded

Above: Reuters reported that its reporters saw smoke rising in the vicinity of the U.S. embassy just after the strike. Reports this weekend said that insurgents were going to be using a new and deadlier kind of mortar rocket, modelled on one of those used by Hizbollah, the al-Sharooq. Left: Smoke rises above the 'green zone' following a mortar barrage on June 21.

A big mortar and rocket attack on Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone compound on Tuesday killed two Iraqis and a Filipino and wounded 25 other people, Iraqi police said.

Police said some 30 mortars and rockets were fired at the compound, which houses the Iraqi government along with the U.S. and British embassies. It was one of the biggest barrages against the zone since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

A U.S. embassy spokesman said he was not aware of anyone getting killed, adding there had been around a dozen explosions inside the zone, which covers a large area of central Baghdad and is bounded on one side by the Tigris river...

Police said many of the wounded were Iraqis. Contractors of numerous nationalities work inside the compound, often employed by security companies.

From Reuters/Alternet

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