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Iraq-Jordan
U.S. forces kill dozens of Najaf cannon fodder
2004-04-27
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

#9  update:

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - U.S. troops fought militiamen overnight near Najaf, killing 64 gunmen and destroying an anti-aircraft gun. An American soldier was killed Tuesday in Baghdad, raising the U.S. death toll for April to 115 - the same number lost during the entire invasion of Iraq last year.

Also Tuesday, a Red Cross team visited Saddam Hussein to see his conditions in U.S. custody, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said, but he refused to say where the visit took place. It was the first since the Red Cross visited the ousted Iraqi leader in February.

The battle outside Najaf was one of the heaviest with the militia as U.S. troops try to increase the pressure on gunmen loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. U.S. troops moved into a base in Najaf that Spanish troops are abandoning, but promised to stay away from the sensitive Shiite shrines at the heart of the southern city.
*snip*
Posted by: Frank G   2004-04-27 12:48:01 PM  

#8  See whay they call it "Spooky"? Death from above, mother&#^*$%s...
Posted by: mojo   2004-04-27 10:49:53 AM  

#7  Mhw, at first I thought Sadr should have been crushed without mercy, now I think you are right.

Sadr embarrassed the Shia clergy by his connections to Iran, and his actions. He also showed Sistani's inability to do anything. This is all helpful in the long run.

Now, according to another article on rantburg today some Shia are killing and threatening Sadr and want him out of Najaf.

Sometimes patience has its virtues. I still think we should have wolloped Fallujah hard and fast though.
Posted by: ruprecht   2004-04-27 10:46:51 AM  

#6  Maybe I'm nuts, but I see a gem of a tactic emerging here and up north. The enemy has no patience. If our troops hang around long enough, they'll come to us. Tease them. Taunt them. Piss them off, and they'll meet us on our ground. What's the old saw?

"They kept coming the same old way and we kept killing them the same old way."
Posted by: Chuck Simmins   2004-04-27 9:20:45 AM  

#5  So Mohammed took a dump there once. Big deal. Bring in the MOABs.
Posted by: Dar   2004-04-27 8:16:10 AM  

#4  Per the Rantburg post yesterday about Sadr's merchandise, it might be a good idea to allow the people of Najaf to have a few more weeks of Sadr's company. By then, they will be in a mood to elect secularists.
Posted by: mhw   2004-04-27 8:14:25 AM  

#3  If a square inch of a building is "holy", then the press will report the entire region as "holy". Unless, of course, it's sacred to Christians or Jews, in which case they treat it like it's a bunch of crap.
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2004-04-27 8:07:40 AM  

#2  
U.S. forces backed by aircraft have killed dozens of Shi'ite militiamen in fierce overnight clashes near the Iraqi holy city of Najaf ....

Najaf is not a holy city. Objective journalists should not use such expresssions in their own statements.
.
Posted by: Mike Sylwester   2004-04-27 7:20:08 AM  

#1  Gobble gobble.
Posted by: Howard UK   2004-04-27 6:15:24 AM  

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