Guerrillas have fired rockets at the headquarters of the US-led administration in central Baghdad only hours after a senior US general claimed attacks on US forces had decreased.
"Attack. Take cover. This is not a test," warned loudspeakers at the compound in one of Saddam Hussein's former palace complexes. Sirens wailed, flares lit up the night sky and US helicopters clattered overhead.
A spokesman for the US 1st Armored Division which patrols Baghdad said at least two rockets had been fired. One crashed through the roof of an empty apartment building near the coalition compound and another landed near a bus station.
"There are no reports of US soldiers being injured, or of civilian casualties" the spokesman said.
But he said two Iraqi police were wounded in a rocket-propelled grenade attack near a Baghdad petrol station.
The US Central Command, which covers Iraq, said attackers fired mortar bombs at American soldiers at a forward position in Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit early yesterday. The Americans retaliated with counter-fire.
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"One person was found unresponsive and one was wounded," the command said in a statement. A command spokeswoman was unable to explain what "unresponsive" meant. "Just stick to the wording," she said.
Guerrilla attacks in Iraq have become increasingly brazen. On Saturday, a DHL cargo plane made an emergency landing in Baghdad with an engine on fire after being hit by a surface-to-air missile. A video tape delivered to a French journalist apparently showed the missile being fired.
The footage showed several men with their faces concealed by scarves, carrying grenade and missile launchers. One aimed a shoulder-fired missile at a plane.
The attackers were shown escaping by car, and the tape then showed a plane descending with smoke pouring from one wing.
The rocket attack came only hours after a senior US general claimed tougher US tactics had halved the number of attacks on his forces in Iraq in the past two weeks, but that assaults on Iraqis had surged.
General John Abizaid told a news conference US forces had stepped up operations to counter a rise in insurgent activity.
"These offensive actions in the past two weeks have actually driven down attacks on coalition forces...I would say the attacks are down by about half," he said. "But unfortunately we have found that attacks against Iraqis have increased."