At least 27 people were killed and 40 were wounded in a huge explosion at a hotel in Baghdad on Wednesday, according to the US military.
Iraqi police and US soldiers said a car bomb destroyed the five storey Hotel Jabal Lebanon. Residents, however, said a rocket struck the building.
The blast came on the day US forces launched Operation Iron Promise to find insurgents and capture illegal weapons in the Iraqi capital.
US soldiers and Iraqi ambulances raced to the scene, and rescuers pulled bodies from the rubble of the hotel. At least 41 people were injured. Many Westeners were staying at the hotel, resident Faleh Kalhan said.
The explosion left a huge crater. Five smaller, adjacent buildings were badly damaged.
"It has to be a car bomb. No rocket could cause that amount of damage," said Heath Balick of the US Army's 1st Armored Division, which is responsible for security in Baghdad.
But several residents said they believed a rocket caused the destruction.
"We saw the tail of a rocket, then we saw a big flash and heard a big boom," said bystander Hashim al-Musawi.