A mortar shell hit at a hotel where the U.S. consulate is based here Monday, but no casualties were immediately reported, police said. The shell was one of five fired at the Babil Hotel complex at about 2:30 a.m., with four of them exploding nearby and one hitting the three-storey building and causing some damage, said Capt. Muthana Khalid, the spokesman for the Hillah police. In Baghdad, U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Vicki Stein confirmed the attack, but she had different information about how many mortars were fired and where they landed. "One round impacted in the vicinity of the regional embassy office compound in Hillah. There were no casualties or injuries, and an investigation is being conducted," she told The Associated Press. Hillah is about 95 kilometers (60 miles) south of Baghdad. The mostly Shiite city has been the site of deadly attacks by Sunni-led insurgent groups.
