Rocket attack on U.S. base kills more than 20
Strike could be deadliest on U.S. forces since invasion
 |  U.S. troops help a wounded comrade after an attack on a dining facility at a base near Mosul, Iraq. |
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 Dining area hit at U.S. military base near Mosul.
 CNN's Nic Robertson discusses his visits to camps in the Mosul.
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MOSUL, Iraq (CNN) -- A midday rocket attack on a U.S. military base in northern Iraq killed more than 20 people and wounded another 57, U.S. military and civilian officials said Tuesday.
The exact death toll remained unclear late Tuesday.
In Washington, the Pentagon said 22 people, including 19 U.S. troops, were killed in the attack. Details on the other three dead were not immediately known.
Meanwhile, military contractor Halliburton Co. reported seven deaths -- four employees with its subsidiary Kellogg, Brown & Root -- and three subcontractors.
It's unclear whether the three other deaths cited by military officials include any of the Halliburton workers.
Pentagon officials blamed the blast at Camp Marez in Mosul on a rocket attack. One rocket hit the dining hall. Another landed on the ground of the base but did not cause any casualties.
Two other rockets landed outside the base, which the U.S. Army shares with the Iraqi national guard, Pentagon officials said. The attack occurred while soldiers were sitting down to lunch in the mess tent.
"It's a sad day in Mosul," said Brig. Gen. Carter Ham, the commander of the Army's Task Force Olympia, which includes about 8,500 U.S. troops in the Mosul area.
Jeremy Redmon, a reporter for the Times-Dispatch newspaper of Richmond, Virginia, who is embedded with troops at the base, told CNN the attack "knocked soldiers off their feet and out of their seats." (Full story)
"It really was just a sea of wounded and dead, and people crying, folks that were numb," Redmon said.
At least two of the dead were soldiers from the Maine National Guard, according to U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe's office.
"My thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones of the two brave Maine soldiers," the Republican said in a statement.
The Iraqi militant group Jaish Ansar Al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the attack in a posting on Islamist Web sites. The group, which has also claimed responsibility for previous attacks, said it shot video of the attack that will be released later.
CNN could not confirm the authenticity of the group's claim.
In Washington, President Bush expressed his "heartfelt condolences" to the families of those killed, adding that U.S. troops in Iraq are engaged in a "vital mission." (Full story)
The attack on Camp Marez could be the deadliest single attack against U.S. troops in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, and the one-day toll was the worst since the early days of the invasion.
In November 2003, 17 soldiers were killed when two Black Hawk helicopters collided while evading fire over Mosul.
'A level of vulnerability'
CNN personnel who have visited the base said the dining area is a tent-like facility with no hardened protection -- and that soldiers had specifically raised concerns that they could be targeted by insurgents at meal time.
One had told CNN it was only a matter of time before there was an attack on the mess hall.
"There is a level of vulnerability when you go in there, and you don't feel like there's a hard roof over your head," said Lt. Col. Paul Hastings, an officer at Camp Marez.
Overall the base has good protection, Hastings said, and a new dining facility is being built.
Bill Nemitz, a reporter with the Press-Herald newspaper of Portland, Maine, who was embedded at the base, said the new facility is made of concrete and was originally set to be completed by Christmas, but construction had slowed and the building is not near completion.
Nemitz said the base's chief medical officer in April expressed concern about the mess hall being targeted and was charged with drawing up a "mass casualty" plan.
Mosul has been a site of repeated attacks in recent weeks. When the U.S. military launched a major offensive in Falluja in November, there was concern some insurgents had fled to Mosul and would launch attacks from there. The military recently conducted an offensive against insurgents in Mosul, but the violence has continued.
More than 1,300 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since the 2003 invasion -- most of them during the guerrilla campaign that has raged since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's government in April 2003.
With about 1.7 million people, Mosul is Iraq's third-largest city. It is located near the country's northern oil fields.
Tuesday's attack came shortly after British Prime Minister Tony Blair made an unscheduled visit to Baghdad.
During a news conference with Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, Blair called the insurgency "a battle between democracy and terror," in advance of Iraqi elections set for January 30. (Full story)
U.S. and Iraqi officials have said violence would likely spike as the elections approach. Tuesday's attack prompted new questions about the security of the voting, in which Iraqis will select a transitional assembly to draft a new constitution.
But in Washington, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said 15 out of 18 Iraqi provinces now have peace and security.
"There are other areas that we must continue to address some of the ongoing security challenges," McClellan said. "It's important that we continue to help the Iraqi people move forward on the political process as well."
Other developments
A U.S. Marine died of injuries suffered in a vehicle accident Tuesday in western Iraq, the Marine Corps said. The accident was being investigated, and no details were released.The French Foreign Ministry has confirmed that two French journalists held hostage by an Iraqi insurgency group since August have been released. A group known as the Islamic Army in Iraq said Tuesday it had delivered the two to the French Embassy in Baghdad, the Arabic-language television network Al-Jazeera reported. (Full story)Oil pipelines were on fire Tuesday near Baiji, Iraq, the Northern Oil Co. said. The cause of the fires was unknown. The blazes are near portions of pipelines that were damaged by saboteurs two days ago. The burning pipelines intersect the Ceyhan export line and a domestic line, and carry oil from the Kirkuk oil fields.The U.S. Air Force launched airstrikes early Tuesday on insurgents fighting American troops west of Baghdad in the town of Hit, said 1st Sgt. Steve Valley with the Combined Press Information Center. No other information was immediately available.CNN's Karl Penhaul in Baghdad, and Elaine Quijano and Mike Mount at the Pentagon, contributed to this report.
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Associated Press contributed to this report.
