Canadian Armed Forces Station in Afghanistan

Bodyguards rush to protect Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon as a mortar round lands in a garden 40 metres away from their press conference in Baghdad.

(Sabah Arar/Associated Press)

Ban ducked behind a podium while he and Nouri al-Maliki were holding a news conference.

Small chips of debris floated down from the ceiling above the UN chief after the explosion rattled the building in the Green Zone.

Al-Maliki's security officials said it was a rocket attack.

The explosion caused a crater one metre in diameter and about 50 metres from the building where the news conference was in progress, according to an Associated Press reporter. Two cars were damaged.