Iraqis fire missile at US transport plane

Iraqi fighters tried to shoot down a US transport plane with a surface-to-air missile, gunned down the mayor of an Iraqi city and killed an American soldier in a convoy, in a marked escalation of violence.

The new American commander in Iraq acknowledged for the first time yesterday that coalition forces were facing a ”classical guerrilla-type war situation” against opponents ranging from members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party to non-Iraqi fighters from terrorist groups.