Insurgents loyal to radical Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr fought fierce battles on Thursday with United States and Iraqi forces in the holy city of Najaf that quickly spread to other Shi’ite areas. The violence in Najaf killed at least four people and wounded 29 others.
Al-Sadr’s men also fought with US troops in the Baghdad neighbourhood of Sadr City, attacked Iraqi officials in the southern city of Amarah and threatened to hit British forces further south in Basra.
The clashes were the worst flare-up in fighting between authorities and al-Sadr’s forces since a series of truces two months ago ended weeks of violence.
”The ceasefire is over because of the actions of the occupation forces, and the situation has started to deteriorate,” said Sheik Abdul Hadi al-Daraji, a spokesperson for al-Sadr in Baghdad.
Also on Thursday, a suicide car bombing at a police station south of Baghdad killed five people and wounded 27 others, the Interior Ministry said.
Tension rising
Tension has been rising in recent days between al-Sadr’s Mehdi Army and Iraqi and US forces.
On Monday, US marines in Najaf, 160km south of Baghdad, clashed with the militants in fighting that killed an Iraqi woman. The marines said they had been fired upon and responded. Al-Sadr’s aides said the marines had surrounded the cleric’s house.
Police in Najaf have also accused al-Sadr’s militia of kidnapping 18 police officers there in hopes of using them as leverage to force authorities to free recently detained militants.
Early on Thursday, the Mehdi Army attacked a police station in Najaf with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire. US marines later entered the area, residents said.
The marines intervened ”to help the policemen protect the police stations and the city”, Najaf governor Adnan al-Zurufi told the Al-Jazeera television station.
During the battle, a UH-1 helicopter was hit and crashed, the military said. The crew was hurt and evacuated to safety.
The dome of the Imam Ali Shrine was slightly damaged in the fighting, witnesses said. Al-Sadr’s followers announced over the mosque’s loudspeakers that the dome was hit.
The intensely revered shrine, reputed to hold the remains of Imam Ali, the most hallowed saint in Shia Islam, was slightly damaged twice during fighting in May. US forces have been careful to avoid damage to shrines in Najaf and other holy cities for fear of enraging Iraq’s Shi’ite majority.
Busloads of Mehdi Army militants were seen entering the city, residents said.
US forces were stationed about 1km from the mosque, while Mehdi Army fighters were taking their injured into the mosque compound, witnesses said.
Al-Zurufi warned of ”very bad consequences” if the militiamen do not disarm and leave the holy city.
The fighting killed four people and wounded 19 others, said Dr Jawad Khadum, head of Najaf general hospital. Another 10 people, members of the Mehdi Army, were also injured, said Ahmed al-Shibani, from al-Sadr’s office in Najaf.
Gun battle in Sadr City
In Sadr City, insurgents fired on a US patrol, triggering a gun battle, said Major Philip Smith, a US military spokesperson. There were no US casualties.
Al-Daraji, al-Sadr’s spokesperson, said the fighting broke out in Baghdad because of the violence in Najaf and escalating tensions between US forces and al-Sadr loyalists throughout the country.
In Amarah, an appeal for Mehdi Army members to mobilise rang out through mosque loudspeakers. Militants took to the streets, shooting at government buildings and blocking off roads, witnesses said.
In the southern city of Basra, an al-Sadr militant was killed and three others were injured after they ambushed a British patrol on Thursday, according to local al-Sadr official As’ad al-Basri. There were no immediate reports of British casualties.
Earlier, the Mehdi Army threatened attacks on British patrols in Basra, after the passing of a deadline to free four of al-Sadr’s men detained two days earlier. The ultimatum was to have expired at noon on Thursday.
The British had not received a formal ultimatum, ”only rhetoric”, said Major Ian Clooney. He said the men in custody had been detained for questioning.
Another al-Sadr spokesperson, Sheikh Assad al-Basri, said the militant group ”has prepared 1 000 fighters in Basra to confront the British forces who failed to respond to our demands”.
On Thursday afternoon, witnesses in northern Basra reported clashes between the Mehdi Army and British troops that wounded three of the militants.
Violence between al-Sadr militants and US forces first began in April after the US-led occupation authority closed al-Sadr’s newspaper and arrested a key aide. A series of truces ended the fighting, and the newspaper was recently allowed to start printing again.
Car bombing in Mahawil
Meanwhile, in Mahawil, 85km south of Baghdad, a pair of attackers dressed in police uniforms opened fire at guards outside a police station while a third barrelled toward the station in a vehicle filled with explosives and blew up, the Interior Ministry said.
The bombing appeared to signal a new level of coordination in insurgent attacks on police, whom they see as collaborators with US forces in Iraq.
The blast damaged the gate of the station and a dozen nearby cars and left a 5m-wide crater in the ground.
”I was outside the building when I saw a car heading toward us. We started shooting. I’m sure we shot him but he managed to explode the car,” said police Captain Adel Omran, who has shrapnel in his leg.
The two gunmen escaped, said Sabah Kadhim, an Interior Ministry spokesperson.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Arak al-Husseini said the assailants were dressed in police uniform.
”What do these criminals want from Iraqis? They sometimes target the Sunnis, the Shi’ites and the Christians and other times they target the police and the army. They, however do nothing to the Americans,” said Zayd Hadi, a civilian who was outside the station and suffered wounds to his face and stomach.
US military raids
The US military also launched a series of raids against insurgents near the town of Samarra, detaining nine people.
Operation Cajun Mousetrap II began early on Thursday morning, targeting groups suspected of planning and financing attacks against Iraqis and coalition forces, the military said. — Sapa-AP