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2007-01-28 Iraq

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Posted by Glenmore 2007-01-28 16:14|| || Front Page|| [8 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 Details of the day's fighting were sketchy and the origins of the fighters unclear. An Iraqi army source said some of the dead wore headbands declaring themselves a "Soldier of Heaven".

The governor of Najaf province said the group had gathered in orchards near the city and had been planning to attack the main Shi'ite clerical leadership on Monday. It is the climax of the annual Shi'ite rite of Ashura, marking a 7th century battle which entrenched the schism between Shi'ite and Sunni Islam.

Earlier, the governor described the fighters as Sunnis, the majority in the Arab world and the once dominant minority in Iraq, where Shi'ites have been in the ascendant since the U.S. invasion of 2003. The two sects are embroiled in conflict that many fear is descending into all-out civil war.

But political and security sources said they were followers of Ahmed Hassani al-Yemeni and described him as an apocalyptic cult leader claiming to be the vanguard of the Mahdi -- a messiah-like figure in Islam whose coming heralds the start of perfect world justice. He had been operating from an office in Najaf until it was raided and closed down about 10 days ago.

Najaf governor Asaad Abu Gilel told Reuters the authorities had uncovered a plot to kill some of the clerics on Monday, to coincide with the climax of Ashura: "There is a conspiracy to kill the clergy on the 10th day of Muharram," he said, referring to Monday by the Muslim calendar.

The Reuters reporter about 1.5 km (1 mile) from the fighting said he heard intense gunfire and saw U.S. helicopters rocket groves sheltering militants. He saw smoke trailing from one helicopter before it came down in the midst of the fighting.

Posted by KBK 2007-01-28 16:21|| 2007-01-28 16:21|| Front Page Top

#2 According to one Iraqi political source, hundreds of fighters drawn from both Sunni and Shi'ite communities were still fighting. A Reuters reporter at the scene, 160 km south of Baghdad, saw U.S. tanks and heard blasts after dark and an Iraqi officer said F-16 jets were bombing the area.

Posted by KBK 2007-01-28 16:26|| 2007-01-28 16:26|| Front Page Top

#3 For the past several weeks, Sunni insurgents, including Arab fighters from outside Iraq, have stockpiled weapons and dug trenches amid the orchards in apparent preparations to attack the thousands of Shiite Muslim travelers observing the religious holiday of Ashura, Iraqi officials said.
Iraqi police stormed the Zarqaa area early Sunday morning, but took heavy gunfire from the orchards, where an estimated 350 to 400 fighters were entrenched, according to Col. Majid Rashid of the Iraqi army in Najaf.

Posted by KBK 2007-01-28 16:31|| 2007-01-28 16:31|| Front Page Top

#4 U.S. and Iraqi forces killed 250 gunmen from a Muslim cult

Redundancy alert!

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2007-01-28 16:31|| 2007-01-28 16:31|| Front Page Top

#5 Typical Al-Rooters coverage zeroing in on the helicopter part of the story. Maybe the reporter was feeding the ammo for the machine gun....but the gunmen description is a welcome departure from 'insurgents'.

Posted by Phineter Thraviger 2007-01-28 17:03|| 2007-01-28 17:03|| Front Page Top

#6 From Iraq the Model:

Finally, fierce clashes erupted early this morning between US and Iraqi forces with a large group of militants northeast of Najaf. News reports are giving contradicting accounts on the identity of those militants; on the one hand we have the Washington Post and Reuters say they are Sunni insurgents.
On the other hand the Iraqi website Sot al-Iraq says they are a radical Shia group who call themselves "Jama'at Ahmed al-Hassan" or the followers of Ahmed al-Hassan and that their leader, Ahmed al-Hassan claims to be the messenger of Imam Mehdi. An Iraqi journalist from Najaf told a similar story on the phone to al-Jazeera and said the group is a radical Islamist one that was formed after the fall of Saddam's regime.

A Najaf police spokesman, colonel Ali Jrew told al-Hurra TV that the name of the group is "Soldiers of Heavn" and that their leader's name is Abu Gumar al-Yamani and explained "This terrorist group was planning to kill a number of senior clerics and they claim Imam Mehdi is going to appear soonour action was based on intelligence we gathered recently and we had arrest warrants". The BBC is still not sure of the group's identity.

I'm personally more inclined to believe the story of the two Iraqi sources. After all it's hard to believe that Sunni insurgents could establish a base that hosts several hundreds of armed men this close to Najaf.

Posted by KBK 2007-01-28 17:13|| 2007-01-28 17:13|| Front Page Top

#7 Arab fighters from outside Iraq, have stockpiled weapons and dug trenches

Still fighting a war long ended. I hope those trenches received a good dose of cluster bombs.

Posted by Rob Crawford">Rob Crawford 2007-01-28 17:31|| http://www.kloognome.com/]">[http://www.kloognome.com/] 2007-01-28 17:31|| Front Page Top

#8 KBK - good link, I read that earlier. Iraq the Model seems to get great scoop which bears out authentic when all is said and done....unlike Rooters

Posted by Frank G">Frank G 2007-01-28 18:32|| 2007-01-28 18:32|| Front Page Top

#9 U.S. and Iraqi forces killed 250 gunmen from a the Muslim cult in Sunday's battle involving U.S. tanks and helicopters near Najaf, Iraqi police, army and political sources said.

Likey Frank said, there fixed that for ya.

Posted by BA 2007-01-28 19:14|| 2007-01-28 19:14|| Front Page Top

#10 NBC News at first couldn't bear to say anything besides, "250 Iraqis were killed." Later in the segment it became "alleged insurgents." But the correct term (are you listening, John Siegenthaler?) is "Muslim religious fanatics." These people don't want to take over Iraq, they want to kill Sistani, or maybe Sadr.

Posted by KBK 2007-01-28 19:30|| 2007-01-28 19:30|| Front Page Top

#11 But political and security sources said they were followers of Ahmed Hassani al-Yemeni and described him as an apocalyptic cult leader claiming to be the vanguard of the Mahdi -- a messiah-like figure in Islam whose coming heralds the start of perfect world justice.

Same 'Mahdi' as Ahmadinnerjackets'?

Posted by Pappy 2007-01-28 20:50|| 2007-01-28 20:50|| Front Page Top

#12 There's only one #12, Pappy.

Posted by Phineter Thraviger 2007-01-28 21:05|| 2007-01-28 21:05|| Front Page Top

#13 Reuters:

Similar violent cults have been a feature of Islamic history. They have declared temporal Muslim leaders illegitimate infidels and have drawn followers from both Sunni and Shi'ite believers, proclaiming a unity of inspiration from Mohammad.

Posted by KBK 2007-01-28 22:49|| 2007-01-28 22:49|| Front Page Top

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