At least 41 US soldiers were injured on 9 December in a car bombing outside a military base in Tal Afar, near the northern city of Mosul. A spokesman for the US military said a car, travelling at speed toward the base, was fired on when it failed to stop at a checkpoint. 'It was engaged by our security personnel, said US military spokesman, Hugh Cate. 'The vehicle stopped before it got into the compound and it detonated - I'm going to have to assume that it was [a suicide bomber], as the individual was driving the car and it detonated.' Cate added that the majority of injuries sustained by servicemen were the result of flying debris.