- BAGHDAD (AP) -- Insurgents
using rocket-propelled grenades struck a US compound in the northern city
of Mosul today, a day after Baghdad's heavily guarded central district
came under fire from mortars or missiles.
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- No casualties were reported in today's incident, the
US military said.
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- Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city, which had been relatively
quiet in the past several months, but the security situation has deteriorated
since October.
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- The continuing attacks by shadowy groups of Iraqi resistance
fighters have cast doubt on the ability of the US-led coalition to contain
the growing insurgency, and have sparked an exodus from Baghdad of international
organisations and diplomats from several Western countries.
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- Spain, a close US ally, withdrew many of its diplomatic
staff today because of escalating violence.
-
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- Huge explosions thundered through Baghdad yesterday evening
as the insurgents targeted the 5-square-kilometre "Green Zone,"
which includes coalition headquarters, the military press centre and other
key facilities.
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- Iraqi police said two mortars fell in the zone, but US
officials said the headquarters itself, located in one of Saddam Hussein's
former palaces, was not damaged. A Pentagon spokesman said three people
were wounded but it was unclear if they were military or civilians.
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- The huge detonations sent coalition staffers running
into the hallways. It was the second mortar attack against the Green Zone
in as many days.
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- The Spanish withdrawal followed the slaying of a Spanish
navy captain in the truck bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad on
August 19, and the October 9 killing of a Spanish sergeant working for
military intelligence.
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- Security at the Spanish embassy had been stepped up in
recent weeks.
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- Two other coalition members have withdrawn diplomats
from Iraq because of stepped-up insurgent attacks. Last month, Bulgaria
and the Netherlands moved their diplomats to Jordan, also citing worsening
security.
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- Those fears increased after a dramatic escalation in
attacks, starting with the October 26 missile barrage against the Al-Rasheed
Hotel, where many coalition and US military officials lived. One US colonel
was killed and 18 people were wounded.
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- On Sunday, guerrillas near Fallujah shot down a US Army
Chinook helicopter, killing 15 soldiers in the bloodiest single strike
against American forces since the war began on March 20.
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- Violence persisted yesterday when a roadside bomb killed
a 1st Armoured Division soldier and wounded two others in Baghdad.
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- Copyright 2003 News Limited.
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- http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,7782103%255E1702,00.html
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