Militants unleashed a huge mortar assault against the Baghdad Green Zone, killing at least three people and wounding 18, the US Embassy said.
One of the dead was an American service member. The barrage of an estimated 20 mortars or rockets crashed into the Green Zone about 4.15pm yesterday.
A US Embassy statement said the dead included one US military member, an Iraqi and a person of unknown nationality. Many of the mortar attacks come from the Mahdi Army, a Shia militia loyal to anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, though Sunni rebels have also carried out mortar attacks.