WASHINGTON -- A Pentagon official said that at least 22 people were killed and 50 wounded in an attack Tuesday at a U.S. and Iraqi base near Mosul.
The official said assailants using rockets and mortars attacked a U.S. and Iraqi forward operating base in the northern Iraqi city.
The official said it's believed that the dining hall at the base was hit.
Earlier, the U.S. military said there had been "multiple casualties" from the mortar attack.
The U.S. Army's Task Force Olympia is based in Mosul, which is predominantly Sunni Muslim.
The military said the cause of the explosion is under investigation.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the attack shows that "the enemies of freedom will continue to seek to derail the transition" to a free and democratic Iraq.
As he briefed reporters Tuesday morning, McClellan was uncertain whether President George W. Bush had been filled in on the circumstances of the attack. It came during lunchtime at the base, when presumably the potential for casualties would be great.
McClellan said the president is determined to stay the course in Iraq and -- as Bush said during his news conference Monday -- he "fully expects" terrorists to step up their attacks in the run up to next month's elections.
Doctor: U.S. Military Bombed Homes West Of Baghdad
A doctor said four Iraqis have been killed and seven injured in a U.S. airstrike west of Baghdad. He said two houses were damaged.
The military said it shot a missile at an "enemy position" early Tuesday but had no information on casualties.
North of the Iraqi capital, five American troops and an Iraqi civilian were hurt in a car bomb explosion. The military said they are in stable condition. A suspected insurgent was detained at the scene of that attack.
And the military said Marines southeast of Baghdad seized several caches of weapons, including rocket launchers, mortar shells and rocket-propelled grenade rounds.
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