Baghdad - A fatal attack launched two days ago against the sprawling headquarters base of the United States military in Iraq was carried out with a 240mm rocket - a type of weapon provided to Shia extremists by Iran, a US general has said.
One person was killed and 11 were wounded during the "indirect fire" attack Tuesday against Camp Victory, which includes the headquarters of Multinational Forces-Iraq.
The attack was overshadowed by congressional appearances by General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker in Washington.
But such an attack with a sophisticated weapon against a nearly impregnable compound - far less vulnerable than the Green Zone in the heart of the capital - sends a strong message to the Americans that nowhere in Iraq are they safe - even in the nerve centre of the US mission.
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'The Iranian... rocket is the only 240mm rocket found or fired in Iraq to date' It represents a major confrontation between the US and armed Shia groups the Americans insist are supported by Iran.
Major General Kevin Bergner said the rocket was launched from a populated area in the Rasheed district of west Baghdad, which he said was infiltrated by the Mahdi Army militia of anti-US cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Bergner said Shiite groups "have received" such weapons "from Iranian sources in the past" and "used them against coalition forces." A 240mm rocket was fired against a US base south of the capital in mid-August.
"The Iranian... rocket is the only 240-millimetre rocket found or fired in Iraq to date, and Jaish al-Mahdi is the only group known to fire that rocket," Bergner said, referring to the Mahdi Army by its Arabic name.
Camp Victory, a huge area located near Baghdad International Airport, has occasionally come under fire, but attacks with such a large number of casualties and with such sophisticated weapons are rare.
'The Iraqi government and nation are close friends of Iran' On Wednesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rejected the congressional testimony of the top US officials in Iraq accusing Iran of interfering in its war-torn neighbour.
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