[News] Aljazeera: Battles rage across Iraq

Wed Apr 7 11:38:16 EDT 2004

Battles rage across Iraq
by
Wednesday 07 April 2004 6:07 AM GMT

Almost 300 people have died in clashes and attacks during the last three 
days in battles between occupation forces and resistance fighters including 
supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr across Iraq.

Some 250 Iraqis have been killed across the country since clashes erupted 
on Sunday in the southern city of Najaf before fighting swept across the 
country.

On Wednesday, 40 Iraqis were killed and scores injured in the city of 
Ramadi, Aljazeera correspondent said. The US military confirmed it lost 12 
marines in Ramadi on Tuesday when a base came under attack. It was the 
deadliest single strike against occupation forces since the start of the war.

The White House quickly declared that the raid would not oust forces from 
Iraq. US officials said there were "significant losses" to resistance 
fighters, but gave no further details.

Also on Wednesday, two US soldiers were killed in separate attacks one in 
Baghad and one in Balad, north of the capital.
During the past three days US forces have lost 33 soldiers. A Ukrainian and 
Salvadoran were also killed.

Causalities

In the restive town of Falluja, at least 105 people were killed in the past 
24 hours, including women and children, aljazeera correspondent said.

Four Iraqis died overnight in fresh clashes between occupation soldiers and 
al-Sadr loyalists in al-Sadr City, a stronghold of the Shia leader in a 
Baghdad suburb. Another three Iraqi civilians died of injuries sustained in 
earlier fighting.

In the southern city of Karbala, Polish troops killed the head of al-Sadr's 
office.

Earlier, US military officials said they would "destroy" al-Sadr's al-Mahdi 
army. US Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt also called on al-Sadr to turn 
himself in to face murder charges, and help end the violence.

Also, in the southern city of Kut, a South African working for a British 
security company was killed by al-Mahdi militiamen, reported sources from 
the occupation forces.

The sources said he had died when the house he was living in with other 
contractors was attacked by Shia militia.

Kut has been the scene of violent clashes for the past three
days between Shia militiamen and forces of the US-led occupation.

In Tikrit, north of Baghdad, a US military base was hit by Katyusha 
rockets. "Columns of smoke were seen in the site of the attack but no 
casualties among the occupation troops were reported," said our 
correspondent in Tikrit.

Retreat

Beleaguered Bulgarian troops called for US reinforcements in Karbala where 
pitched battles have been fought. And Ukrainian forces, on their part, have 
pulled out of Kut, the latest southern battle front with al-Sadr supporters.

Five Iranians and three Iraqi civilians were killed when occupation 
soldiers opened fire on their vehicle near a checkpoint in the holy city.

Scores of Iraqi civilians have been killed and wounded by occupation fire 
since fighting broke out in the southern city of Najaf, before sweeping to 
Falluja, Ramadi, Nasiriya, Amara, Baghdad, Karbala, Kut, Kirkuk and Baquba.

And near the northern city of Kirkuk US occupation soldiers killed eight 
Iraqis, including a child, and injured 12 others in an exchange of gunfire 
during a demonstration to protest against US attacks on the besieged town 
of Falluja.

Some 1500 protesters in Hawija denounced what they described as the US 
massacres in Falluja, where almost 90 people, mainly civilians, have been 
killed in the past three days. US forces have sealed off Falluja for three 
days now in an effort to crush the resistance there.

In Baquba, a US helicopter landed "after taking fire," reported US army. 
There were no reports of casualties.

The latest fighting is the first time that some Shia factions have taken up 
arms against occupation troops.

Al-Sadr ordered his loyalists to join the resistance after Spanish forces 
opened fire on demonstrators in Najaf, killing at least 20 Iraqis and 
wounding scores.

Protesters had been calling for the release of al-Sadr's aide, Mustafa 
al-Yaqubi, detained by occupation forces last weekend. They were also 
protesting the closure by occupation authorities of a pro-al-Sadr 
newspaper, al-Hawza.

More resistance?

Until Sunday, Shia leaders have ordered followers to cooperate with the 
occupation and "resist peacefully". Iraq's leading Shia cleric Iranian-born 
Grand Ayat Allah Ali al-Sistani has ordered followers not to take up arms.

However, al-Sadr lacks religious education and credibility and bases his 
religious authority on his lineage.

He is the son of Grand Ayat Allah Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr, a prominent Iraqi 
Shia leader who was killed in 1999 along with two of his other sons.

His followers will continue to battle occupation forces until troops 
withdraw from populated areas and prisoners are released, said an al-Sadr 
aide on Tuesday.

"This insurrection shows that the Iraqi people are not satisfied with the 
occupation and they will not accept oppression," according to a statement 
from al-Sadr's office.

Al-Sadr decided to end a sit-in at the main mosque in Kufa, near Najaf, 
because he feared that the mosque would be raided and defiled by occupation 
troops.

Aljazeera + Agencies
By

You can find this article at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/660FF109-9E21-4AF8-BCA3-C39E0FE67917.htm 

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