Baghdad's Green Zone Attackedhttp://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gkx-3oYeFwuWKCusr2jrojs98w8wD8V08Q2G0By PATRICK QUINN – 1 day ago
BAGHDAD (AP) —
Extremists fired an explosive barrage Saturday into the capital's heavily protected Green Zone, targeting the heart of America's diplomatic and military mission in Iraq.
The U.S. military said there were no injuries from the early morning volley, which could be heard throughout downtown Baghdad.
The earth-jarring detonations, nearly 10 of them, even shook buildings across the Tigris River from the capital's fortified core, which houses the U.S. Embassy, military facilities and the Iraqi government.
The attack came shortly before Brig. Gen. Mike Milano, a top U.S. military official tasked with restoring security to Baghdad, said that nearly 80 percent of the capital's districts were now considered free of organized extremist activity.
The strikes were the most recent involving what Maj. Brad Leighton, a U.S. military spokesman, described as indirect fire — the military's term for a rocket or mortar attack.
Similar volleys in the past week, including one against an Iraqi housing complex at Baghdad International Airport and its adjoining U.S. military base, killed 31 people, Milano said.
He blamed the attacks on "al-Qaida and Iranian-backed special groups."
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Escalation not going so well after all. :grr: