Baghdad – A thunderous barrage of mortars or rockets killed at least three people and wounded 18 in the Green Zone on Tuesday, the U.S. Embassy said. One of the dead was an American service member.
An estimated 20 projectiles crashed into the heavily fortified area of Baghdad about 4:15 p.m.
A U.S. Embassy statement said the dead included one U.S. military member, an Iraqi and a person of unknown nationality.
The 18 wounded included five Americans, two military and three contract employees.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki warned gunmen a week ago to stop firing into the Green Zone, which houses the U.S. Embassy, other foreign missions, some key government offices and the Iraqi parliament.
Many of the attacks come from the Mahdi Army, a militia loyal to anti-American cleric Muq tada al-Sadr, who was once al-Maliki’s ally.
Meanwhile, Sunni extremists seized control of a remote village northeast of Baghdad in a battle with residents who pleaded for rescue, the deputy provincial governor said Tuesday.
The fighting in Sherween, in Diyala province on Baghdad’s northern gates, underlines the struggle in the area where militants believed to be from al-Qaeda in Iraq have reportedly left graves of victims.
It also points to a critical problem facing U.S. commanders: the lack of enough fully trained Iraqi soldiers and police to provide security in areas beyond the scope of American military operations.
U.S. troops have been fighting to dislodge insurgents who had turned the Diyala provincial capital, Baqubah, into their stronghold and were using it to launch attacks in Baghdad.
Soldiers have found whole streets and buildings wired with explosives, bomb and weapons factories and prisons run by extremists.
