MIDDLE EAST:A major mortar and rocket attack on Baghdad's Green Zone compound yesterday killed at least three people, including one US military service member, and wounded about 18 other people, the US embassy said.
The embassy said in a statement that five of the injured were US citizens, including two service members and three contract employees. It was one of the biggest barrages against the heavily fortified zone.
Sunni extremists seized control of a remote village north-east of Baghdad in a fierce battle with residents who pleaded for help from Iraqi army and police as they tried to defend their homes, the deputy provincial governor said yesterday.
The fight underlines the continued struggle in Diyala province on Baghdad's northern outskirts, where militants believed to be from al-Qaeda in Iraq have reportedly left mass graves of victims in areas under their control.
For the past three weeks, US troops have been fighting to dislodge insurgents who had turned the provincial capital Baqouba into their stronghold and were using it to launch attacks in nearby Baghdad.
The soldiers have found whole streets and buildings wired with explosives, bomb and weapons factories, and prisons run by extremists. Iraqi officials say the bodies of 35 people murdered by militants were found dumped in a village on Baqouba's outskirts.
Fleeing insurgents appear to be trying to capture more territory further north in Diyala, where security forces are fewer.
Iraqi officials say the extremists have held sway for months in numerous towns, villages and parts of larger cities across the sprawling mountainous agricultural province, intimidating residents and imposing strict Islamic law.
The fight for Diyala has highlighted the weaknesses of the Iraqi security forces, which US commanders acknowledge are unable to stand on their own.
Devastating suicide bombings north of Baqouba over the weekend raised sharp criticism from Iraqi politicians that troops were failing to give protection.
There were few details of the fighting in Sherween, a village of 7,000 Shia and Sunnis. But the assault appeared to be an attempt by extremists to move into a new area. A Sherween resident yesterday called Diyala deputy governor Auf Rahim and told him insurgents had launched an assault the day before and that fighting was still raging.
"Come help us or they will slaughter us all," the resident told Mr Rahim, adding that 25 militants and 18 residents had been killed.