WAR.WIRE
Mortars hit British army camp in restive Iraq province, no injuries
 BAGHDAD (AFP) Oct 31, 2004
 Two mortars hit a military base in a restive region south of Baghdad on Sunday where a battle group of British soldiers have recently arrived, causing no casualties, a spokesman said.

"Two mortars landed this morning in the complex but there was no damage or injuries," British military spokesman Major Charles Mayo told AFP.

Camp Dogwood -- a vast area with a perimeter of some 40 kilometresmiles) -- lies to the west of the rebel town of Mahmudiyah which is part of a so-called "triangle of death" along with Latifiyah and Iskandariyah in Babil province.

The sheer size of the camp and the small area the British troops occupy meant they had not been in any real danger, said Mayo.

The last of some 850 troops from the Black Watch regiment and support personnel arrived in Camp Dogwood Friday on a US-requested mission to free up their American counterparts to tackle other insurgent hotspots.

The troops spent Saturday settling into the camp, sorting out force protection and laying out supplies and were expected to push on with logistical work on Sunday before starting patrols around the hostile terrain.

In a rude awakening on their first full-night together in Babil on Friday, another mortar round hit the base without causing any casualties.

Britain's 8,500-strong military force in Iraq is headquartered in the southern city of Basra, a relatively calm Shiite Muslim region compared to the daily car bombings and kidnappings that shake the provinces around Baghdad.