Three American soldiers and at least seven Iraqis were killed in a gun battle outside the office of a Shia cleric in the holy Iraqi city of Kerbala, officials said yesterday.
A US military police patrol opened fire on guards protecting the office of Syed Mahmoud al-Hassani, one of several clerics in Kerbala. In the firefight, three military policemen from the 101st Airborne Division were killed, the heaviest loss for the US forces for more than a month. Two Iraqi police officers and five of the cleric’s armed guards died. Up to 20 others were injured.
The deaths bring the total number of US casualties to 101 since hostilities were formally declared over on May 1.
The shooting comes after weeks of growing tension between some Shia factions and the US military. Six months ago Iraq’s Shia majority were the first to celebrate the defeat of Saddam Hussein but some Shia factions have since grown increasingly fractious.
Yesterday a US military armoured personnel carrier returned to the scene of Thursday’s shooting and opened fire on gunmen in rooftop positions. Later guards outside Syed al-Hassani’s office were seen unpacking weapons including clubs, rifles, grenades, anti-tank missiles and rocket-propelled grenades. Polish troops, who lead the multinational forces in the area just south of Baghdad, watched the cleric’s office from a distance.
In the alley outside the office yesterday there were still bloodstains on the floor. Sheikh Abu Zahrar, one of Syed al-Hassani’s deputies, said the patrol came past late on Thursday and opened fire. The military has established a 9pm curfew in Kerbala.
”These were guards protecting Syed Mahmood,” the sheikh said. ”The Americans opened fire without warning.”
Guards were positioned outside the office in August after the assassination of Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim, head of the largest Shia party in Iraq, by a car bomb in Najaf.
”We asked the Americans to set up a checkpoint outside our office but they refused,” the sheikh said. ”We needed security to protect the Syed.” He admitted that the guards did not have permits for their weapons. ”We asked the Americans for licences and permission but they refused. They kept telling us to come back and ask again,” he said. There had been two other clashes between the guards and US troops in recent weeks, he said.
Other supporters of the cleric threatened further attacks against the US and Polish troops in the area. ”They want to arrest the Syed but he has got nothing to do with politics, he just concentrates on religious matters,” said Noman Abdul Hussain, 40, who was at the office during the shooting on Thursday. ”All the guards are from the tribes and all are against the Americans now.”
Syed al-Hassani’s office is near the centre of Kerbala, which is home to the golden-domed Imam Hussein shrine, one of the most important Shia pilgrimage sites.
Earlier this week at least one Iraqi was killed and several injured in shooting between two rival Shia groups, one loyal to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq’s most respected cleric, and the other followers of Moqtada al-Sadr, a young hardliner. The clash came after Sadr supporters tried to occupy the Imam Hussein shrine.
Sadr’s forces, who have significant support in poorer areas of Baghdad, staged a series of protests in the capital last week against occupation. A crowd of 3 000 of his supporters demonstrated outside a shrine in Baghdad yesterday against the US authorities.
Senior Washington officials have suggested the military in Iraq will launch a crackdown on Sadr’s unlicensed and well-armed forces in the coming days. Another US military policeman was killed in Baghdad yesterday when a roadside bomb detonated close to a passing American convoy. – Guardian Unlimited Â