Six to eight rockets hit the Al Rasheed Hotel in Baghdad early Sunday, where U.S. military and civilian employees stayed, the U.S. military said.
A spokesman for the military command said an American colonel was killed and other 15 people were wounded. The injured included seven American civilians, four U.S. military personnel and four "non-U.S. coalition civilian partners," according to a statement by the U.S. command, cited by The AP.
The luxury hotel is located in an area tightly controlled by the U.S. military on the western side of the Tigris River.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, who is on visit in Iraq, was in the hotel, but was not hurt. He later promised the attack would not deter the United States in its mission to transform Iraq. Wolfowitz added danger persists in Iraq "as long as there are criminals out there staging hit-and-run attacks."
The dead American was a colonel, Wolfowitz confirmed. That would be one of the highest ranking U.S. military officers killed in Iraq.
Some balconies in the midlevel of the hotel appeared damaged and a large hole was visible on one side of the building. The Al Rasheed Hotel was taken over by the American military when Baghdad fell to U.S. forces in April.
The Iraqi attackers had boldly driven to the edge of a park just 500 yards southwest of the hotel, towing what looked like a portable, two-wheeled generator, Iraqi police said. They quickly fled, and rockets suddenly ignited within the trailer, apparently on a timer, flashing toward the nearby hotel.
After the attack, scores of American officials fled the building in pajamas and shorts, heading for a nearby convention center housing occupation offices, witnesses said. (Albawaba.com)
