No Injuries Reported in Attack on Italian Mission in Baghdad

BAGHDAD —  In another blow to U.S. allies in the Iraq occupation, insurgents fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the Italian mission before dawn Thursday, causing damage but no injuries.

The overnight attack underscored the precarious security situation in the Iraqi capital despite a drop-off in attacks on U.S.-led coalition forces in recent days. Two weeks ago, a truck bomb outside the Italian barracks in Nasiriyah killed 19 Italians and 14 others in an apparent attempt to weaken the resolve of Washington’s allies.

Also Thursday, a U.S. military convoy was attacked on the main highway west of Baghdad near the town of Abu Ghraib, witnesses said. An Associated Press cameraman filmed two abandoned military trucks with their cabs burning fiercely as dozens of residents looted tires and other vehicle parts. The military said it had no immediate information on the incident.

In the northern city of Mosul, unidentified attackers fatally shot an Iraqi police sergeant Thursday, Brig. Gen. Mouwafak Mohammed said.