Fallujah, July 09: Unknown gunmen fired Rocket-Propelled Grenades (RPGs) at the headquarters of US forces in the flashpoint Iraqi town of Fallujah as well as at a US military truck, witnesses said. A US Army spokesman confirmed only one attack in the town, saying it had not caused any casualties.

A single RPG was fired at the US headquarters last night, starting a fire, said the witnesses, adding that they could not tell if there had been casualties. The attack took place shortly after midnight (0130 IST) in the center of the town 50 kms west of Baghdad.
The US military spokesman said the attack targeted the city council, where some US forces are stationed.

"There has been one RPG fired in the vicinity of the mayor's compound and it hit a barrier," he told a news agency. Shortly thereafter, a US military truck was also hit by RPGs and caught fire, according to the witnesses who said gunfire was subsequently heard in the town.

The US spokesman could not confirm there had been a second attack.

A US soldier died of a gunshot wound sustained in "a non-combat incident" in Iraq, the Central Command said yesterday. "A US soldier attached to the 101st Airborne Division died of a gunshot wound in a non-combat incident on (Monday) July 7," Centcom said in a statement posted on its website.

The statement was datelined Balad, a town around 75 kms north of Baghdad, but it did not give details about the incident.

Bureau Report