Judge among dead in U.S. raid on Tikrit

TIKRIT, Iraq, March 26 (UPI) -- An Iraqi judge was among five people killed Wednesday in a U.S. airstrike in Tikrit, police reported.

Thirteen people were injured in the strike that killed Munaf Mahdi al-Azawi, a judge with Tikrit Central Court, CNN reported.

The U.S. military said the raid was targeting a person "associated with al-Qaida in Iraq and suspected of organizing car bombings for the terrorist group."

In Baghdad, three people were seriously injured Wednesday when four mortar shells were lobbed at the Green Zone, a fortified area where U.S. officials have offices, reported KUNA, the Kuwaiti news agency.

A U.S. Embassy spokeswoman said the three injured were U.S. government officials.

Iraqi police said one of the shells landed outside the Green Zone near the Iranian Embassy, damaging a residential building.