Attack on US military dining hall kills 24

A MORTAR and rocket attack on a US military dining hall killed 24 people and wounded more than 60 in Iraq's northern city of Mosul yesterday in one of the deadliest attacks on American forces since the war began.

The attack came as British Prime Minister Tony Blair made a surprise visit to Baghdad, where he vowed the war against insurgents would be won and elections would go ahead on January 30.

As he left Baghdad, mortars fell on the Green Zone compound, as they do almost daily. There was no word on any casualties.