Attack on US base in Iraq kills 2, wounds dozens

BAGHDAD, Oct 11 (Reuters) An ''indirect fire'' attack on a big US military base in the Iraqi capital Baghdad overnight killed two coalition forces members and wounded 38, the US military said today.

A Western security contractor at the Camp Victory military base had said he heard nine mortar rounds being fired and four explosions inside the perimeter after dusk yesterday.

In a statement, the military said two ''third country nationals'' had also been wounded.

It gave no details on the nationalities of any of the victims.

Besides US troops, small numbers of soldiers from other countries are based at Camp Victory.

Such attacks on the base, the US military's sprawling headquarters near Baghdad airport, are relatively rare. Indirect fire attacks usually refer to mortars or rockets.

Last month, an Iranian-made rocket killed one person at Camp Victory in an attack blamed on militants loyal to anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

REUTERS ARB BD1314