- BAGHDAD (Reuters) - About
half a dozen missiles hit several targets in Baghdad Thursday, including
the headquarters of the U.S.-led administration, a hotel used by Westerners
and an apartment block, witnesses said.
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- There was no immediate word on casualties from the guerrilla
attacks, which triggered warning sirens at the U.S-led administration complex
in the Iraqi capital.
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- Details of the attacks were sketchy and no comment was
immediately available from the U.S.-led administration.
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- The attacks occurred hours after a missile hit a heavily
guarded Baghdad hotel used by Westerners late Wednesday and deadly attacks
earlier on Christmas Eve.
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- Wednesday's hotel attack caused no casualties, but three
U.S. soldiers died in a bomb blast north of Baghdad and a suicide car bomber
killed himself and four other people in northern Iraq.
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- U.S. aircraft and artillery pounded suspected guerrilla
hideouts in southern Baghdad for a second night.
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- Blasts and heavy machinegun fire echoed across the city
as the U.S. military's Operation Iron Grip went on into early Thursday
to flush out suspected guerrillas.
-
- The deaths of the three soldiers Wednesday brought to
205 the number of U.S. military deaths since President Bush declared major
combat over in Iraq on May 1.
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- U.S.-led occupation officials in Iraq had warned insurgents
would launch spectacular attacks during the Christmas holiday season.
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- U.S. soldiers have arrested hundreds of suspected guerrillas
and their backers in raids across the Sunni Muslim heartland west and north
of Baghdad since former President Saddam Hussein was captured on December
13 in his home town of Tikrit.
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- The Sunni minority dominated Iraq under Saddam's rule.
He repressed the majority Shi'ite Muslims during his three decades in power.
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- In the hotel attack Wednesday, the missile struck just
above a top-floor restaurant decorated with Christmas lights.
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- Tables were set for dinner, but the room was empty at
the time of the blast.
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- "I heard a very big explosion," said Ameena
al-Jabouri, a British lawyer staying at the hotel. "Really we can't
do anything because if we move to a different hotel that will be hit too."
- © Reuters 2003. All Rights Reserved.
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