Shiite Gunmen Ransack Police Station

Associated Press ^ | 6/11/04 | ROBERT H. REID

[TexKat]

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Fistfights broke out Friday around Najaf's most sacred shrine, a day after U.S. troops refused to intervene when gunmen loyal to a radical cleric ransacked an Iraqi police station there. Coalition forces came under fire in another Shiite city south of Baghdad.

In the capital, a car bomb exploded on a highway in the Sayediya district as a U.S. patrol passed nearby. Two U.S. Humvees were slightly damaged but there was no U.S. confirmation of any casualties.

The trouble in Najaf started Friday morning when hundreds of protesters marched toward the Imam Ali Shrine to express support for a peace plan that was threatened by clashes the day before.

Supporters of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr blocked their way, and fights broke out between the two groups. The shrine was evacuated and its doors closed as a security precaution, witnesses said.

Despite the incident, the city was generally quiet Friday following gunbattles in which al-Sadr's fighters seized and ransacked a police station. Hospital officials said six Iraqis were killed and 29 wounded, including eight children.

It was the first outbreak in fighting in Najaf since a truce mediated by Shiite clerics and politicians ended eight weeks of clashes between U.S. troops and al-Sadr's al-Mahdi Army militia.

Al-Mahdi Army fighters remained in their positions around the city's main mosque Friday, inspecting cars and checking identification papers. But there was no sign of weapons.

U.S. troops refused to intervene because the fighting was too close to Shiite shrines and because it was unclear whether al-Sadr was trying to subvert the truce. Al-Sadr aides said the fighting began when relatives of a man killed by police sought revenge.

American forces are trying to lower their profile in Iraq and hand over more responsibility.

Lt. Gen. Thomas F. Metz, who took command of the new Multinational Corps Iraq headquarters last month, said Thursday the military was changing its focus from fighting guerrillas to training Iraqi troops and protecting the fragile interim government.

Nevertheless, American soldiers clashed Thursday with other militants loyal to al-Sadr in Baghdad's Shiite district Sadr City. At least one militant was shot and killed by a U.S. tank as he prepared to fire a rocket-propelled grenade at the Americans.

Elsewhere, the U.S. command announced Friday that an American soldier died of wounds suffered in an ambush in eastern Baghdad. Four other soldiers were wounded in the Wednesday night attack. More than 820 U.S. service members have died since the Iraq conflict began March 2003.

Assailants fired rocket-propelled grenades Thursday night at coalition troops near the Shiite city of Hillah about 60 miles south of Baghdad. Polish officials said no casualties were reported and the attackers fled when troops returned fire.

Polish Lt. Col. Robert Strzelecki wouldn't divulge the nationality of the coalition troops involved but soldiers from Poland, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Latvia operate in the area.

In Najaf, Maj. Gen. Martin Dempsey, commander of the 1st Armored Division, told CNN that Iraqi police, who deserted when al-Sadr's rebellion began in April, fought well Thursday despite losing control of a station. Dempsey said it was too early to tell whether the truce, mediated last week by Shiite clerics and politicians to end nearly eight weeks of fighting, had collapsed.

But the U.S.-appointed governor of Najaf province, Adnan al-Zurufi, warned that if the violence continued, "there won't be a truce." He gave the militia 24 hours to clear armed men off the streets.

Al-Sadr's spokesman, Qais Al-Khazali, warned the governor against "following the Americans" or sending forces near the holy shrines "because this could lead to fighting."

In Sadr City, gunfire crackled through the streets as knots of young, black-clad militiamen fired machine guns, small arms and rocket-propelled grenades at American positions, while U.S. Army Apache helicopters roamed the skies seeking targets. A flock of terrified sheep scampered down one street past Shiite gunmen.

A roadside bomb exploded Thursday evening in Sadr City near a convoy of sport utility vehicles favored by Westerners in Iraq. There was no official conformation of casualties, but pools of blood were seen around a wrecked vehicle.

In Seoul, the South Korean government said it would send 3,600 troops to a Kurdish area of northern Iraq in August despite pressure to reconsider the long-delayed deployment.

South Korea, which already has 600 military medics and engineers in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, had planned to send its troops to the ethnically contested city of Kirkuk in April. The plan was canceled because of fears the troops might be caught up in fighting.

Opposition to sending troops to Iraq has been rising amid increasing violence in Iraq. Seoul has portrayed the dispatch as a way of winning U.S. support for a peaceful end to the North Korean nuclear crisis.

[TexKat]

A masked Shi'ite militiaman guards worshippers performing Friday prayers near a poster of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in Baghdad's suburb of al-Sadr city June 11, 2004. One Iraqi fighter was killed and several more wounded in sporadic clashes between insurgents and U.S. forces in a Shi'ite suburb of Baghdad, an official of rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's group said on Friday. REUTERS/Ali Jasim

An armed Shi'ite militiaman holds a machine gun while trying to prevent U.S. forces from entering a Baghdad suburb on June 10, 2004. One Iraqi fighter was killed and several more wounded in sporadic clashes between insurgents and U.S. forces, an official of rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's group said on June 11, 2004. Militiamen loyal to Sadr fired automatic weapons and lobbed hand grenades at U.S. forces, which responded by sending helicopters to fire at targets in the sprawling Sadr City slum, Reuters television footage showed. (Stringer/Iraq/Reuters)

A U.S. Army soldier, on an armored vehicle, secures the scene of a car bomb explosion in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad June 11, 2004. A car bomb went off as a U.S military convoy was passing on a highway southwest of Baghdad, there was no immediate confirmation of any casualties. REUTERS/Thaeir Al-Sudani

U.S. Army soldiers survey a scene of a car bomb explosion in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad June 11, 2004. A car bomb went off as a U.S military convoy was passing on a highway southwest of Baghdad, there were no immediate reports of any casualties. REUTERS/Bob Strong

[TexKat]

Ping

[verity]

"one militant was shot and killed by a U.S. tank as he prepared to fire a rocket-propelled grenade"

The militant's last words :Where's the safety on this thing?.....

[Poundstone]

"Supporters of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr blocked their way, and fights broke out between the two groups."

This is very good news. Iraqis, perhaps, are starting to deal with the terrorist scum themselves.

[sgtbono2002]

AP says the US refused to intervene I hread they werent requested the Iraquis handled it themselves, Whats the truth?

[Rick.Donaldson]

I didn't know you could actually say "Shiite" on the internet.....

[TexKat]

A young Iraqi boy passes by a destroyed and blood splattered mini van in the Sadr City district of Baghdad, Iraq left after overnight battles between U.S forces and Iraqi militiamen Friday June 11, 2004. American soldiers clashed with militants loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and at least one militant was shot and killed by a U.S. tank as he prepared to fire a rocket-propelled grenade at the Americans. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

U.S. soldiers investigate the remains of a car bomb which exploded on a highway in the Sayediya district of Baghdad, Iraq as a U.S. patrol passed nearby Friday June 11, 2004. Two U.S. Humvees were slightly damaged but there was no U.S. confirmation of any casualties. (AP Photo/Jim MacMillan)

In this image taken from video, a Mahdi militant prepares to fire a rocket propelled grenade at American positions in the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad Thursday, June 10, 2004. He was later shot and killed. (AP Photo/APTN)

In this image taken from video, a Mahdi militant is shot and killed as he prepared to fire a rocket propelled grenade at American positions in the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad Thursday, June 10, 2004. (AP Photo/APTN)

An Iraqi Shi'ite militiaman walks through a police station parking lot littered with old Saddam Hussein dinar currency in the holy city of Najaf June 10, 2004. Five people were killed in fighting between Iraqi police and Sadr's militia in Najaf on Thursday, hospital sources said. It was the first clash in the holy city since the Shi'ite militia agreed a truce with U.S.-led forces last week. REUTERS/Ali Abu Shish

[TexKat]

"one militant was shot and killed by a U.S. tank as he prepared to fire a rocket-propelled grenade"

Check out the pictures in post #7.

militant = Oh man, I hate when that happens.

[rageaholic]

Allah's not going to let that ski mask guy into the sex orgy with those filthy feet, no no no.

[rageaholic]

Yeah Americans "negotiated" with tracer. He gets 72 raisins

[Frank_Discussion]

Took a minute to realize that I was seeing the tracer round appearing to GO THROUGH and deflect off-ballistic away from the guy.... WOW! That's a photo ya don't see any day.

[Blood of Tyrants]

RPG's against a tank are no better than a bb gun unless you can get a shot in from behind and hit the air intake. And then it doesn't destroy the tank but only disables it.

[quantim]

Fistfights broke out 

Must be a sign things are becoming more civilized!  Notice how al-Sadr points his finger like Kerry in the photo?

[datura]

Pretty good photos to show those negotiations in two frames.

[Ben Chad]

BUMP