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U.S. Soldiers Attack Targets in Najaf
Backed by helicopters, American tanks charged into the center of this holy city on Friday and shelled positions held by fighters loyal to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who launched an uprising against the U.S.-led coalition last month. Explosions and heavy machine gun fire rocked Najaf neighborhoods for hours, and bands of militiamen with assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and mortar tubes roamed the city of dun-colored buildings. Smoke billowed from blasted buildings. Al-Sadr's office close to the sacred Shrine of Imam Ali took small arms fire Friday, according to someone who answered the telephone there. The man, who refused to give his name, said he believed the shots came from rival Shiite groups opposed at al-Sadr's presence in the city.Residents said al-Mahdi gunmen blocked all roads close to the Imam Ali shrine, barring entry to all except those with special militia badges. Civilians scurried for cover, leaving many streets empty as the call for Friday prayers rose from loudspeakers at mosques. Some families left their homes on foot to seek refuge. Arab television stations reported that an aide to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric, had urged U.S. forces and al-Sadr fighters to leave Najaf. The U.S. attack represented a strongest U.S. push yet against al-Sadr, whose forces fought intense battles with American forces this week in another holy city, Karbala. The intensifying battles have eclipsed efforts by Iraqi political and tribal leaders to seek a peaceful solution to the confrontation ahead of a planned transfer of sovereignty to Iraqis on June 30. Much of the fighting in Najaf happened in the city's vast cemetery, a maze of footpaths and tombs that offers ample hiding space for militiamen armed with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. Several tanks rumbled into the cemetery, known as the "Valley of Peace" and thought to be the world's largest. A hotel in the city center where many international journalists were staying was hit by gunfire, which ruptured the rooftop water tank and blew a hole the size of a soccer ball on the ledge. Several rounds struck rooms but there were no injuries. Al-Mahdi fighters entered the hotel briefly and claimed someone had fired at them from the roof. American troops moved along main roads in the city near the Imam Ali shrine, one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam. U.S. helicopters and a jet fighter flew over the city. In Baghdad, al-Sadr's aides called on Shiites in the capital to travel to Najaf to reinforce the militia there. In the southern city of Amarah, an al-Sadr representative, Farqad al-Mousawi, warned Iraqi police and civil defense corps members that they risked assassination if they helped American soldiers fight the al-Mahdi militia. Al-Sadr's representative in Nassiriyah, Sheik Aws al-Khafaji, threatened attacks on coalition forces there, most of whom are Italians. Posted by: Fred 2004-05-14 |
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