US, UK consulates in Basra shelled

[bemildred]

The US and UK consulates in Basra came under heavy attack, Aljazeera has learned, hours after a car bomb ripped through a bus carrying Iraqi National Guard personnel in the city of Balad.

An unidentified group fired a heavy barrage of mortar fire late on Sunday at both consulates. British troops raced to the scene and fired at the source of the shelling.

No casualties or damage have yet been reported.

The mortar attack in Basra comes at the conclusion of a particularly bloody day which saw the killing of 25 Iraqi guardsmen, marking the deadliest attack of its kind in nearly four months.

al Jazeera