- Iraqi militants and rebellious Shiites challenged the
US-led occupation force on two fronts today, mounting a string of attacks
across the south that left dozens of people dead.
-
- Sixteen Iraqis died in battles with US Marines in Fallujah,
and at least 26 more ñ many of them women and children ñ
were killed in a late-night rocket strike by the US military, hospital
officials said.
-
- In all, more than 140 Iraqis and 18 American soldiers
have died in three days of clashes, the worst fighting since the war that
toppled Saddam Hussein. A Salvadoran soldier and one from Ukraine also
were killed.
-
- In Fallujah, Marines drove into the centre of the Sunni
city in heavy fighting before pulling back before nightfall. The assault
had been promised after the murder of four American civilians there last
week.
-
- At least 16 Iraqis were killed and 20 wounded in the
fighting, hospital officials said.
-
- Tonight US warplanes fired rockets that destroyed four
homes in Fallujah, witnesses said.
-
- Rafie al-Issawi, a doctor at Fallujah General Hospital,
said the bodies of 26 Iraqis were brought in after the strike, and at least
30 more were wounded.
-
- US authorities also launched a crackdown on radical Shiite
cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his militia after a series of weekend uprisings
in Baghdad and cities and towns to the south that took a heavy toll in
both American and Iraqi lives.
-
- The fighting marks the first major outbreak of violence
between the occupation force and the Shiites since Baghdad fell a year
ago.
-
- The 30-year-old al-Sadr, however, does not have a large
following among majority Shiites ñ many see him as a renegade, too
young and too headstrong to lead wisely.
-
- Eighteen American troops have been killed since Sunday
ñ in Fallujah, Baghdad, Kirkuk, Mosul and Sadr City.
-
- Meanwhile, fighting in the southern cities of Nasiriyah,
Kut, Karbala and Amarah and in a northern Baghdad neighbourhood killed
30 Iraqis, coalition military officials said.
-
- In Nasiriyah, 15 Iraqis were killed and 35 wounded in
clashes between militiamen and Italian troops, coalition spokeswoman Paola
Della Casa told the Italian news agency Apcom.
-
- Della Casa said the Iraqi attackers used civilians as
human shields, and a woman and two children were among the dead. Eleven
Italians troops were slightly wounded, she said.
-
- In Kut, militiamen attacked an armoured personnel carrier
carrying Ukrainian soldiers, killing one and wounding five others, the
Ukrainian Defence Ministry said. Two militiamen were killed in the fight.
Ukraine has about 1,650 troops in Iraq.
-
- Fighting overnight in Amarah between al-Sadr's followers
and British troops killed 15 Iraqis and wounded eight, said coalition spokesman
Wun Hornbyckle.
-
- In Fallujah, US Marines battled with gunmen holed up
in a residential neighbourhood. For hours both sides traded fire while
teams of Marines seized buildings and helicopters attacked guerrilla hide-outs.
-
- The US military brought out a deadly AC-130 gunship to
lay down a barrage of fire against the guerrillas. At least two Marines
were wounded.
-
- "We are several blocks deep in the city of Fallujah,"
said Marine Major Briandon McGolwan. He said several helicopters were hit
by small arms fire but none were downed.
-
- Fallujah, 35 miles west of Baghdad, has been a stronghold
for insurgents since the fall of Saddam Hussein a year ago.
-
- The crackdown on al-Sadr, who has drawn backing from
young and impoverished Shiites with rousing sermons demanding a US withdrawal,
sent his black-garbed militiamen against coalition troops Sunday, Monday
and today.
-
- Fearing a US move to arrest him, al-Sadr left a fortress-like
mosque in the city of Kufa, south of Baghdad, where he had been holed up
for days, his aides said.
-
- Al-Sadr issued a statement saying he was ready to die
to oust the Americans. He urged his followers to resist foreign forces.
-
- "America has shown its evil intentions, and the
proud Iraqi people cannot accept it. They must defend their rights by any
means they see fit," the statement said.
-
- "I'm prepared to have my own blood shed for what
is holy to me."
-
- Al-Sadr moved to his main office in Najaf, in an alley
near the city's holiest shrine, according to a top aide, Sheik Qays al-Khaz'ali.
Hundreds of militiamen were protecting the office.
-
- Perhaps more worrying than the current fight with al-Sadr's
forces is the possibility that he will start drawing support from more
mainstream Shiite leaders who have largely supported the Americans until
now.
-
- The coalition announced a murder warrant against al-Sadr
on Monday and suggested it would move to capture him soon.
-
- US State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said
al-Sadr and his followers were not representative of a religious cause
but of "political gangsterism."
-
- "They're not acting in the name of religion, they're
acting in the name of arrogating for themselves political power and influence
through violence, because they can't get it through peaceful persuasion,"
he said.
-
- Still, the heavy battles over the past three days showed
that even with limited backing, al-Sadr's al-Mahdi Army militia is capable
of a damaging fight.
-
- Paul Bremer, the top civilian administrator in Iraq,
conceded not all was going smoothly as the coalition approached the June
30 handover.
-
- "We have problems, there's no hiding that. But basically
Iraq is on track to realise the kind of Iraq that Iraqis want and Americans
want, which is a democratic Iraq."
-
- © Thomas Crosbie Media, Tuesday, April 06, 2004
http://www.breakingnews.ie/2004/04/06/story141720.html
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