MOSUL, December 23 (IslamOnline.net) – Following a deadly attack on its military base in Mosul, US forces launched a massive house-to-house search campaign in several parts of the northern Iraqi city and sealed off bridges linking it to the rest of the country.

American troops were heavily deployed at crossroads and near mosques with snipers taking positions on the roofs of buildings.

More than 24 people, including at least 19 US soldiers, were killed in a rocket attack Tuesday, December21 , at a US base in Mosul.

Several city residents said that the number of US soldiers killed in the attack is more than was previously declared.

Eyewitnesses told IslamOnline.net that another powerful explosion rocked a military base inside Mosul airport early on Wednesday, December22 .

A US military spokesman admitted the attack but claimed no US forces or equipment had been damaged, Reuters reporters.

Mosul is home to a number of US military bases, two of which are located in the centre of the city.

It also houses the US consulate in war-torn Iraq.

Isolated

After the Tuesday’s attack, the deadliest against US forces since US President declared an end to major combat in May2003 , the five bridges linking Mosul to the rest of the world were shut down till further notice.

"All bridges were closed early this morning as part of a planned operation," said Lieutenant Colonel Paul Hastings, the chief spokesman in Mosul.

Mosul's governor Duraid Kashmula warned citizens against approaching the bridges, saying anyone who does not heed the call would be "putting his life in danger."

The closure prevented civil servants from going to work and students from going to schools and university, bringing life in the third-largest city in Iraq to a standstill.

Moreover, shops and the usually bursting-at-the-seams markets have become deserted in the now-turned ghost town.

"Students went to school but were told to go home. People went to the shops, saw American troops in the streets, and went home," one resident told Reuters.

The new measures added insult to the injury in a city that has been under a10 -hour nightime curfew since November11 .

The restrictions also sent fuel prices sky high, with prices, with a 30 -fold hike to 1500 diner/litter (one dollar).

Cars are queuing outside stations, paralyzing activities and services in the northern city.

Over the deteriorating security situation in chaos-marred Iraq, Christmas celebrations were cancelled in Ninawa governorate.

In a statement Wednesday, the bishops council said churches will only host prayers but no celebrations.

Mosul, an ethnically mixed city of Arabs and Kurds located 370 kilometers ( 250miles) north of Baghdad, recently turned into a battleground between resistance fighters and US occupation troops.

The US military has been making incursions into the city since coordinated attacks by fighters and armed groups on police stations prompted most of the local police force to quit on November11 .

Turbulences in the northern Iraqi city occurred following the US massive offensive on the western Iraqi city of Fallujah.

Some 10 , 000US marines and army forces, alongside some2 , 000Iraqi national guard soldiers unleashed a long expected onslaught on the resistance hub of Fallujah on November8 , capping long nights of massive US raids.