Update on the worst news possible on our troops;
Attack on US troops is worst yet
Large groups tend to gather in the dining area
Eighteen US soldiers have been killed in an explosion at a US military base in Mosul, making it the worst single incident for the US military in Iraq.
Six Iraqi civilians were also killed in the attack which happened in a dining tent at the base at noon (0900 GMT).
The US military said there was a single explosion in the Camp Merez base, south-west of the northern city.
The attack comes amid an upsurge of violence in the run-up to elections planned for 30 January.
More than 60 people were injured, the US military said.
A statement attributed to the Ansar al-Sunna militant group on an Islamist website said one of its suicide bombers carried out the attack.
The suicide claim has not been confirmed. Witnesses said they heard several explosions and saw smoke rising from the base.
Military officials initially said rockets or mortar rounds struck the camp, but Lt Col Paul Hastings, a spokesman for Task Force Olympia in northern Iraq, said the incident was still under investigation.
Mosul: Northern powder keg?
"We do not know if it was a mortar or a place explosive," he said.
Brig Gen Carter Ham, commander of Task Force Olympia said earlier in a brief televised statement from Mosul that other foreign contractors were also among the dead and wounded. That has not been verified.
"It is indeed a very, very sad day," Gen Ham said.
The BBC's James Reynolds, who was embedded with US troops at the base last month, says the dining hall was always seen as vulnerable. A US army colonel told him he feared what would happen if insurgents managed to fire rockets into it.
The hall was shielded by towering concrete walls - but it had no protected roof. The army was building a more fortified dining hall nearby, our correspondent says.
Before Tuesday's attack the worst single incident for the US military in Iraq was a helicopter crash in Mosul in November 2003, which killed 17 soldiers.
The two Black Hawk helicopters collided as they took action to avoid ground fire.
Spate of attacks
The Mosul attack came as UK Prime Minister Tony Blair made an unannounced visit to Baghdad, 370km (250 miles) to the south.
It was his first trip to the capital, where he held talks with interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and other officials.
OPINION POLL IN THE US
56% say the cost of the Iraq conflict outweighed its benefits
A slight majority believe the war has contributed to the long-term security of the US
70% say these gains have come at an "unacceptable" cost in military casualties
Source: ABC News/Washington Post (20 Dec 2004)
In Washington, the White House said US President George W Bush condemned the Mosul attack, and regarded as a sign of the insurgent forces' desperation.
Mr Bush "mourns loss of life" said White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
In other developments:
Two French journalists held hostage in Iraq since August are freed.
Gunmen assassinate a local government official in Diyala province on his way to work.
An ABC News/Washington Post poll released on Monday suggest a majority of Americans now believe the war in Iraq was not worth fighting.
Mosul, Iraq's third biggest city, has experienced a spate of attacks since the middle of November, when insurgents overran police stations, looting weapons.
Much of the city centre is off limits to Iraqi security forces and US troops, who have been the target of daily attacks during the last month.
Ansar al-Sunna has claimed a string of attacks on Iraqi security forces and foreign workers, often taking hostages and murdering them.
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