Insurgents Strike at Iraqi, U.S. Sites

RAMADI, Iraq – Insurgent attacked several U.S. bases, the governor's office and the Iraqi registration office with mortars and rockets Thursday before dispersing, residents said.

The attacks occurred as local tribal leaders and U.S. military officials were to hold their second meeting in a week at the governor's office in the city center.

Residents said that within minutes, scores of masked gunmen, believed to be members of Jordan-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Al Qaeda in Iraq group, took control of many of the city's streets but dispersed after launching attacks with mortars and Russian-made Katyusha rockets.

It wasn't clear if the attacks left any casualties but most residents fled to their homes after the exchange began.

Ramadi is the provincial capital of the western Anbar province, a Sunni stronghold, where clashes between insurgents and U.S. and Iraqi troops have left hundreds of people dead in the past two years.