Iraq mortar attack hits US office

Iraqi anger is mounting under US-led occupation

Details have emerged of a mortar attack on a building used by the US-led administration in Iraq that killed one person and wounded 12 others.

All the casualties were Iraqis who were in an operations centre in Samarra, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of Baghdad.

The building is used by officials co-ordinating military and civilian humanitarian efforts in Iraq.

The incident, which happened on Wednesday night, was the latest in a series of ambushes and attacks on US forces in Iraq.

"This is one of numerous incidents recently where Iraqi resisters have attacked coalition forces or Coalition Provisional Authority locations and injured or killed Iraqi citizens," said a statement from US Central Command.

The US military authorities said troops were sent to the scene of the attack, but were unable to find out who was responsible.

Protests

On Wednesday in Baghdad, two Iraqis were killed when an American soldier opened fire on demonstrators who had started throwing stones at a military convoy outside the former presidential compound which is now the headquarters od the US-led military coalition.

In a separate incident, a US soldier was killed and another wounded in a drive-by shooting at a petrol station in the city.

A US Army spokesmen said the gunmen escaped as other soldiers tried to help the wounded.

On Tuesday, a US soldier was killed by a sniper's bullet while on patrol in the Iraqi capital.