Agence France-Presse,
An “indirect fire” attack on a major U.S. military base in the Iraqi capital Baghdad overnight killed two coalition forces members and wounded 38 others, the U.S. military said on Thursday.
A Western security contractor at the Camp Victory military base had said he heard nine mortar rounds being fired and four explosions inside the perimeter after dusk on Wednesday.
The number of casualties is the highest in months from an attack on Camp Victory, the U.S. military's sprawling headquarters near Baghdad airport.
Such attacks on the base are relatively rare compared to other U.S. facilities, given its size and location. Indirect fire attacks usually refer to mortars or rockets.
In a statement, the military said two “third country nationals” had also been wounded.
It gave no details on the nationalities of any of the victims. Besides U.S. troops, small numbers of soldiers from other countries are based at Camp Victory.
Last month an Iranian-made rocket killed one person and wounded 11 at Camp Victory in an attack blamed on militants loyal to anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
The U.S. military commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, said at the weekend that Iran was stoking violence in Iraq by giving advanced weaponry to militias in the country. Iran dismissed Petraeus's comments as “baseless.”
U.S. commanders say that apart from rockets and mortars, sophisticated roadside bombs made from Iranian components have killed hundreds of U.S. troops in Iraq.
In August, U.S. President George W. Bush, already at odds with Iran over its nuclear program, said attacks on U.S. troops with Iranian-supplied weapons were increasing and that he had told commanders in Iraq to “confront Tehran's murderous activities.”
Sadr ordered the suspension in late August of all Mehdi Army operations for up to six months, in what was seen as a move to re-establish his control over the militia, which the U.S. military says has fragmented into splinter groups.
But Sadr aides have said the order might be withdrawn if U.S. and Iraqi forces do not stop detaining the cleric's supporters. U.S. commanders say most of the Mehdi Army appear to be following Sadr's order, but that some elements are not.
