US forces strike Fallujah & Baghdad

Shia militia rules Baghdad streets, US forces surround Fallujah, arrest warrant for fiery cleric in Iraq

US helicopter gun-ships opened fire as tanks rumbled through Baghdad's sprawling Shuala district yesterday, but teenage militiamen with guns and knives were firmly in control when the clashes ended.

Young boys jumped up and down on a U.S. military truck that had been attacked and set ablaze in a symbolic victory for radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose militiamen are challenging US forces in several cities across Iraq.

Supporters of the cleric rioted in Baghdad and four other Iraqi cities, sparking fighting that killed at least 50 Iraqis, eight US troops and a Salvadoran soldier, in the worst unrest since the spasm of looting and arson immediately after the fall of Saddam Hussein.

The fiercest battle took place Sunday in the streets of Sadr City, Baghdad's largest Shia neighborhood, where Shia militiamen fired from rooftops and behind buildings at US troops, killing seven Americans. At least 28 Iraqis were killed in the fighting, a doctor at one local hospital said Monday.

In fighting in the holy city of Najaf Sunday, two soldiers -- a Salvadoran and an American -- died and at least nine other soldiers were wounded, the Spanish Defense Ministry said. Twenty-two Iraqis died and more than 200 were wounded, said Falah Mohammed, director of the Najaf health department.

Hundreds of US and Iraqi troops in tanks, trucks and other vehicles surrounded the turbulent city of Fallujah yesterday ahead of a major operation against insurgents in retaliation for the grisly slayings of four American security contractors last week.

Explosions and gunfire could be heard coming from the center of the city. Streets on the outskirts were largely deserted.

Dan Senor, a senior spokesman for the U.S. led authorities in Iraq, said an Iraqi judge had issued an arrest warrant for Sadr several months ago in connection with the killing of another Shia cleric last year.

Sadr, surrounded by armed followers, is staging a sit-in at a mosque in Kufa, south of Baghdad. Asked when he would be arrested, Senor said: "There will be no advance warning." The announcement was likely to stir fresh fury among Sadr's thousands of supporters.

Sadr's Mehdi Army has said for months it is ready for holy war against the Americans if the order comes, and the militia displayed its zeal and organizational skills Monday in Shuala, a teeming Shia area.

Officials in Sadr's local headquarters said U.S. troops backed by helicopters mounted an incursion into Shuala in the morning, firing tank-mounted machineguns from a distance.

"People came out from their homes when they saw what was happening. U.S. troops fled when a (tank) transporter in the convoy was seized and set on fire," said Sheikh Ali, carrying a pistol and wearing a "Fine Surfing Gear" sweatshirt.

"Look what they have done," he added, pointing to bullet holes in the walls of the Sadr group's office.

There was no firm word on casualties in the strike, thought to be the first of its kind inside Baghdad since the war that toppled Saddam Hussein nearly a year ago, but an anti-U.S. cleric said five people were killed and 10 wounded.

By the early afternoon, the militiamen ruled the streets, with only a few bursts of gunfire in the distance.

Source: The Daily Star

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