Loud explosions rock BaghdadMonday 26 January 2004
Loud explosions echoed across central Baghdad on Monday evening, followed by warning sirens from the "green zone" where the US-led occupation in Iraq is based.
"Take cover, take cover," said a warning message played over loudspeakers by US occupation forces after the blasts.
"A rocket landed in an open parking lot in the Green Zone. There were no casualties and no damage to equipment was reported," a US military spokesman said, using the American name for the compound.
The rocket, apparently fired from across the Tigris, exploded in a parking lot near the Republican Palace, used by chief occupation administrator L. Paul Bremer and senior coalition staff, but caused no damage or casualties, he added.
The compound on the west bank of the Tigris river has come under rocket and mortar attack several times in recent months.
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Earlier on Monday afternoon, the occupation headquarters in Najaf, south of Baghdad, also came under two rocket attacks.
According to Aljazeera's correspondent, "flames were seen rising from the headquarters" of the multinational forces which includes Salvadorian and Spanish troops.
The Spanish forces immediately carried out search campaigns and raided homes in nearby neighbourhoods.
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http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/32732CCA-D1CC-4555-8B5A-D532B4A02C1B.htm