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US Seizes Heart of Najaf
US troops backed by tanks and aircraft seized the heart of the city of Najaf yesterday after fierce clashes with a Shiite militia. In the southern town of Kut, scores died when US planes bombed it Wednesday night. Warplanes and helicopters pounded militia positions in a cemetery next to the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf while US forces stormed the home of cleric Moqtada Sadr. Sadr was believed to be holed up in the mosque along with hundreds of his Mehdi Army. Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi urged the militiamen to lay down their arms and leave the mosque.A US assault on the mosque could spark a firestorm for Allawi. "This government calls upon all the armed groups to drop their weapons and rejoin society. We call upon all the armed men to evacuate the holy shrine and not to violate its holiness," Allawi said in a statement read by Defense Minister Hazem Al-Shalan Shalan insisted that only Iraqi police and national guard would enter the mosque and that it would be off-limits to US troops. Asked if Iraqi forces would storm the mosque, he said: "God willing, we will take the adequate measures that will serve the shrine, our people and Najaf's sanctity. "But I will not get into the details right now of how we would do it." Late in the afternoon, US warplanes bombed targets near Sadr's house as Marines battled militiamen in the area. Marines also blocked entry to the Imam Ali Mosque. Posted by: Fred 2004-08-13 |
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