Bridges closed as US forces seek Mosul bombers

US FORCES sealed off entire districts of the Iraqi city of Mosul yesterday, blocking bridges and raiding homes in a hunt for suspects after an attack that killed 18 Americans and four other people.

Mosul’s governor issued an overnight order on television banning use of the five bridges over the River Tigris and said anyone breaking the order would be shot. Residents said Iraq’s third city was a virtual ghost town, with no one in the streets.

FBI and other experts flown in from Baghdad were “in the middle of” determining what caused Tuesday’s explosion at the Marez base in Mosul, Lieutenant-General Thomas Metz said. “If it was a bomb, I think they’ll be able to figure out the size and the kinds of materials that were put into it,” he told CNN. The military declined comment on an ABC television report that investigators found evidence a suicide bomber carried out the deadliest attack on Americans since they invaded Iraq.