Free Republic

TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) - U.S. troops exchanged fire with Iraqi guerrillas who lobbed at least six mortar rounds at them in downtown Tikrit, and detained four people, including a suspected bomb maker, in a night of intense fighting early Thursday. The mortar shells missed their targets, causing no injuries or damage, said Lt. Col. Steve Russell, commander of the 4th Infantry Division's 1st Battalion, 22nd Regiment, which patrols Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, 120 miles north of Baghdad. An American reconnaissance patrol, responding to the mortar attack, was ambushed with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades on the eastern bank...