Mortar rounds hammered the U.S.-controlled Green Zone for a second day Wednesday, killing at least two people, wounding about 10 more and raising new fears for the safety of workers at the nerve center of the American mission in Iraq. About a dozen shells crashed into the 3.5-square-mile area of central Baghdad about 4 p.m., sending terrified pedestrians racing for the safety of concrete bunkers.
The US controls the Green Zone? I thought it was Iraqi security that let in the bomber last month?
Motorists abandoned their cars and sprinted for cover. Sirens wailed and loudspeakers warned people to seek safety. No American casualties were reported, and the two dead as well as most of the wounded were Iraqis, U.S. Embassy spokesman Lou Fintor said.
An Iraqi security officer said one of the dead was a driver for the staff of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whose office is in the Green Zone. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not supposed to release the information.
Both the intensity and skill of the attack were noteworthy. The shells, believed to be 122mm, exploded in rapid succession over about a three-minute period. The blasts were relatively close to one another, suggesting an experienced mortar crew using more than one launcher.
It was unclear whether the rounds were fired by Sunni or Shiite
Mortar and rocket crews can set up their weapons quickly on the beds of trucks or in parts of the city with limited surveillance, fire their rounds and flee before U.S. and Iraqi forces can respond.
Not always. My son was hanging around an Abrams one afternoon when the gunner saw a truck stop two miles away. When the tube slide off the back of the truck, the Abrams blew them away.
"When they launch these type of weapons systems, they launch from populated areas, around civilians and in built-up areas," Brig. Gen. Perry Wiggins, deputy director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Pentagon press briefing.
U.S. officials would not comment on damage in Wednesday's attack, citing security
State Department spokesman Tom Casey downplayed the latest attack, saying "it's been part of the operating environment for our officials there, as well as for other people working there." "This is something, unfortunately, that has been a factor and a safety concern for our people since the beginning," he said. "But certainly we are always looking at what we can do to better protect our staff and our facilities."
Nevertheless, the recent increase in attacks has raised alarm among American staffers living and working in what had been considered an oasis of safety in the turbulent Iraqi capital. This month, the U.S. Embassy ordered diplomats to wear flak jackets and helmets while outdoors or in unprotected buildings.Later this year, the United States plans to open a massive new embassy inside the Green Zone despite the ongoing security threat. Embassy staffers have expressed concern that the new facility lacks enough space to house the estimated 1,000 employees in
Those concerns have risen because of a number of high-profile security breaches in the American-controlled zone, located on the west bank of the Tigris River, which flows through the center of the city. In March, a rocket exploded near al-Maliki's office during a press conference for visiting U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who ducked behind the podium as the blast showered small bits of debris from the ceiling. Two Americans - a soldier and a contractor - died in that barrage.
A few days later, two suicide vests were found unexploded in the Green Zone, presumably smuggled in by someone with a security pass to enter the fortified area
So that's one 'high-profile security breach' in March, and another in April, then this mortar attack in May. Where's the Jar-jar Binks in a panic picture?