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U.S. forces kill dozens of Najaf cannon fodder
U.S. forces backed by aircraft have killed dozens of Shi'ite militiamen in fierce overnight clashes near the Iraqi holy city of Najaf, residents and the U.S. military say. "Forty-three anti-coalition forces were killed near Najaf and an anti-coalition anti-aircraft system was destroyed by an AC-130 gunship," a U.S. military spokeswoman said in Baghdad. She declined to give any more details about the incident near Najaf, where a wanted anti-U.S. Shi'ite cleric is holed up with his militia.

Residents said U.S. war planes fired at a Mehdi Army militia checkpoint on the outskirts of the town of Kufa, some 10 km northeast of Najaf, after fighting between U.S. troops and militiamen broke out in the area. Buildings used by the militiamen near the checkpoint were badly damaged and at least three vehicles were destroyed, witnesses said. Hospital sources said at least six militiamen and 22 other people were wounded in the clashes and the air strike.

The Mehdi Army is led by nutcase firebrand Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. He is wanted by U.S. forces on charges of ordering the killing of a rival cleric. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator in Baghdad who had called the situation in Najaf "explosive", had earlier told Sadr to withdraw his militia and its weapons from mosques and schools immediately. "The Coalition certainly will not tolerate this situation. The restoration of these holy places to calm places of worship must begin immediately," Bremer said in his written statement.
Posted by: Lux 2004-04-27
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=31599