- KUFA, Iraq - U.S. forces clashed Monday with
gunmen protecting the house of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in
the holy city of Kufa. One woman was killed and three people were wounded,
a hospital official said.
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- The U.S. military had no immediate comment.
-
- At least six U.S. military vehicles entered the Zahra
area in Kufa near al-Sadr's house, which is protected by his militia, the
Mahdi Army, witnesses said.
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- Heavy gunfire and a mortar barrage set cars on fire
before Iraqi police intervened and the U.S. forces withdrew, witnesses
said.
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- "One woman was killed and we have three injured,"
said Ajwak Kadhim, director at Al-Hakim Hospital in Kufa, 100 miles south
of Baghdad.
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- Al-Sadr, who is wanted by U.S. forces on an Iraqi
warrant for the April 2003 murder of a moderate cleric in the nearby city
of Najaf, was in his house at the time, witnesses said.
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- The radical cleric, who has grassroots support for
his anti-coalition stance, began a two-month rebellion in early April after
the U.S.-led occupation authority closed his newspaper and arrested a key
aide. A series of truces ended the fighting, and the issue of whether to
arrest al-Sadr was dropped without resolution.
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