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Mortar fire pounds Iraq's Green Zone
AFP, BAGHDAD
Monday, Mar 24, 2008, Page 7
A barrage of mortar fire slammed into Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone at dawn yesterday, followed by a fresh attack four hours later, officials and witnesses said.
Black smoke was seen rising from the Green Zone, the seat of the Iraqi government and the US embassy also known as the International Zone, immediately after the 6:30am and 10:30am attacks.
An employee in the Green Zone, Mohammed al-Dulaimi, who witnessed the second attack, said eight mortar rounds fell near the US embassy complex and two a little distance away in a residential area.
"They caused slight damage and one sparked a fire," Dulaimi said.
There were no immediate reports of casualties, US embassy officials said.
"I heard the blasts. We are checking damage. We have no reports of casualties," an embassy spokesman said.
He was unable to say whether the mortar rounds landed near the embassy, but said they fell in the International Zone.
US embassy spokeswoman Mirembe Nantongo said that after the first attack that an initial assessment did not indicate any "death or major casualties."
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