US soldiers backed by tanks and helicopters battled fighters loyal to a radical cleric near a mosque in Karbala Wednesday, hours after Iraqi leaders agreed on a proposal that would end his standoff with the US-led forces. As many as 25 insurgents were killed, the coalition said. The cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr, urged fighters in Karbala to resist US troops, comparing their struggle to the Vietnam War.
Half of the Mukhaiyam mosque, which had served as a base for al-Sadr's followers, was destroyed and seven hotels were ablaze after tanks opened fire and jets bombed the area. Most of the shops in Tal al-Zeinabiya, a central market, and three ambulances and two military vehicles also were destroyed. Fighting subsided by dusk as the call for evening prayers spread across the city from loudspeakers at the Imam Hussein mosque, one of the most sacred shrines of Shias. Special guards manned the gates to the shrine to prevent al-Sadr's fighters from entering. The intermittent sound of explosives and heavy machine gun fire continued as night fell on the city.
Fighters pushed a wounded comrade down a deserted street on a pushcart. Al-Mahdi fighters acknowledged they lost control of the Mukhaiyam mosque, which US officials said the fighters were using as a base."We put up a very stuff resistance," said Ameer Latif, 30, a militiaman from the nearby town of Musayyib. Another fighter from the same town, Amar Haider, leaned against a wall with his Kalashnikov rifle in hand: "God willing, we shall still be victorious."
| And if not, I guess God wills that, too... |
American troops and al-Sadr's followers also fought overnight on the outskirts of the southern holy cities of Kufa and Najaf, and residents heard large explosions. One Iraqi was killed and four were wounded in Kufa, and four Iraqis were wounded in Najaf, hospital officials said. "I appeal to the fighters and mujahedeen in Karbala to stand together so as none of our holy sites and cities are defiled," al-Sadr said, speaking at a shrine in Najaf, where he is holed up. "We are prepared for any American escalation and we expect one." |