Shi’ite extremists shell US embassy under cover of sandstorm

SHI’ITE extremists lobbed more rockets or mortar shells at the US protected Green Zone yesterday as American and Iraqi troops engaged militants in the most violent clashes in weeks in Baghdad.

Abrams tanks were used to repel attacks on two army checkpoints, killing 22 militants in one clash late on Sunday, the US military said yesterday. Sixteen other militants were killed on Sunday in separate fights.

The militants were apparently taking advantage of a sandstorm that blanketed the capital on Sunday, enabling them to shell the Green Zone that houses the US embassy and much of the Iraqi government on the west side of the Tigris river.