USA TODAY - Iraq attacks claim more than 40; Green Zone shelled

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BAGHDAD

A suicide car bomber struck an Iraqi military base in northern Iraq on Sunday in the deadliest of a series of attacks that killed at least 42 people nationwide. In Baghdad, the U.S.-protected Green Zone came under heavy fire by rockets or mortar rounds.

Seven people also were killed and 14 wounded in a suicide car bombing in the Shiite neighborhood of Shula in the capital. The attacks underscored the fragility of Iraq's security, despite a decline in violence over the past year.

In the northwestern city of Mosul, Iraqi security forces opened fire on the suicide bomber as he sped toward a military base but were unable to foil the attack because the truck's windshield had been made bullet-proof, according to an Iraqi army officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.

The attacker blasted past an armored vehicle to reach the courtyard of the military headquarters, the officer said.

Police said at least 13 Iraqi soldiers were killed and 42 people wounded 30 soldiers and 12 civilians in the attack. Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad, has been described by the U.S. as the last urban stronghold of the Sunni-led al-Qaeda in Iraq.

The U.S. military in northern Iraq said the suicide bombing occurred around 7 a.m. and gave a slightly lower casualty toll of 12 Iraqi soldiers killed and 35 wounded.

Shiite extremists were suspected to be behind the barrages against the Green Zone, which houses the U.S. and British embassies and the Iraqi government headquarters.

About 10 detonations were heard starting shortly before 6 a.m in the sprawling area in central Baghdad. Several other mortars or rockets slammed into the area throughout the day.

The U.S. public address system in the Green Zone warned people to "duck and cover" and to stay away from windows following the attacks.

No casualties were reported inside the Green Zone, a frequent target of rocket and mortar attacks, located on the west bank of the Tigris River. "Our assessment at this time is that the attack caused no deaths or major casualties," said Mirembe Nantongo, spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

At least one Iraqi civilian was killed and four wounded outside the area by rounds that fell short, police said.

No group claimed responsibility, but it appeared the rounds were fired from areas of eastern Baghdad where the biggest Shiite militia, the Mahdi Army of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, operates.

A mortar barrage also targeted a U.S. base in the Shiite city of Hillah, about 60 miles south of Baghdad, Iraqi police said. The American military said it was looking into the report.

A cease-fire called by al-Sadr, along with an increase in U.S. troop levels and a move by American-backed Sunni fighters to turn against their former al-Qaeda in Iraq allies, have been credited with sharply reducing violence in Baghdad and surrounding areas.

But there are fears that the cease-fire may unravel after a series of clashes between U.S.-Iraqi forces and Shiite militiamen in Baghdad, Kut and other areas south of the capital.

Last month, the U.S. military blamed what it calls Iranian-backed Shiite militias for a series of deadly rocket attacks in Baghdad. One struck Camp Victory, the main U.S. military headquarters, and an Iraqi housing complex on the capital's southwestern outskirts on Feb. 18, killing at least five people and wounding 16, including two U.S. soldiers.

The military said the extremists were among factions that have broken with al-Sadr and refused to follow his cease-fire order. Iran denies allegations that it is stoking the violence. Al-Sadr recently extended the cease-fire through mid-August.

Weekend raids across Iraq also resulted in 17 insurgents killed and 30 detained, the U.S. military said. The deadliest was an operation Sunday targeting a suspected suicide bombing network east of Baqouba that killed 12 armed men, the military said.

Iraqi police reported a dozen civilians killed in an airstrike in the same area. But the military insisted those killed in the raid were insurgents, including six who had shaved their bodies apparently in preparation for suicide operations.

Five men with suspected ties to al-Qaeda leadership also were killed Saturday near the border with Iran in northeastern Iraq, the military said.

In other violence Sunday, a mortar attack killed eight, including two women and two children, in southeastern Baghdad, police said.

Gunmen opened fire on passengers waiting for buses in a predominantly Shiite area in southeastern Baghdad, killing at least seven men and wounding 16 other people, including women and children.

A police commander was shot to death along with his driver in Balad Ruz, 45 miles northeast of Baghdad.

A roadside bomb near the northern city of Tuz Khormato killed four Iraqi soldiers, including an officer.

The violence was reported by police officials who declined to be identified because they weren't supposed to release the information.

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