Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
BAGHDAD, Iraq_Fighting erupted early Monday in a Shiite militia stronghold
of Baghdad, leaving three people dead, while 10 people were killed when a
suicide bomber blew himself up among mourners at a funeral in Saddam
Hussein's hometown.
A roadside bombing southwest of Baghdad killed three U.S. soldiers late
Sunday, the U.S. military said. No further details were released. Seven
other people were killed and six bodies were found Sunday.
In Baghdad, sounds of heavy gunfire and explosions rattled the Sadr City
district starting about 1 a.m. Monday and persisted for more than an hour.
Iraqi government television and aides to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada
al-Sadr said U.S. aircraft were attacking buildings in the area.
"Several aerial and ground raids began in central Sadr City," al-Sadr aide
Jaleel al-Nouri said by telephone as detonations could be heard in the
background. "We can see several houses on fire."
The U.S. military said in a statement the fighting started when Iraqi and
U.S. forces raided the area to catch extremists suspected of running torture
cells. The forces took fire as soon as they arrived and one U.S. soldier was
injured, statement said. The U.S. military recently reinforced its troop
strength in the city to try to reclaim the streets from militias, including
al-Sadr's Mahdi Army.
"There's gunfire from all sides," Kadhim al-Mohammedawi, a civil servant who
lives in Sadr City, said by telephone. "We can hear women and children
screaming."
The district became quiet after more than an hour, except for the sounds of
emergency vehicles racing through the streets.
Col. Hassan Chaloub, police chief of Sadr City, said three people including
a woman were killed and 12 injured, including five children and two women.
He said three cars and three houses were destroyed.
He said U.S. jets flew over the city and calls of "God is Great" and
"There's no God but God" blasted from loudspeakers in mosques.
Late Sunday, scattered clashes broke out between Shiite militiamen and Iraqi
soldiers near Hamza Square on the edge of Sadr City, police said. Two
militiamen were killed and five combatants were wounded, including two Iraqi
soldiers, police said.
The attack on the mourners occurred about 8:15 p.m. in Tikrit, Saddam's
hometown, 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of Baghdad. The bomber mingled
among the crowd in a funeral hall and detonated an explosive belt, police
said.
Police Capt. Laith Hamid said the mourners were attending services for the
father of a local council member, who was killed in the attack. Part of the
ceiling collapsed and some people might be trapped under the rubble, Hamid
said, adding that 10 people were killed and 22 injured.
Later, the attacker's vehicle was found and detonated as a safety measure in
case it was rigged as a car bomb, police said.
The bombing was the latest in a series of attacks across northern Iraq in
recent days that have tested the capabilities of Iraq's U.S.-trained
security forces.
Iraqi authorities, however, have been heartened by the performance of the
police in the northern city of Mosul, who stood their ground and drove off
the insurgents after a series of attacks last week.
In November 2004, Mosul's entire 5,500-member police force fled during an
insurgent uprising and the U.S. military had to send American troops and
Kurdish fighters to regain control of the city, Iraq's third largest.
Also Sunday, several U.S. Marines were wounded and a few vehicles were
destroyed by a suicide car bombing in Anbar province, the U.S. military said
without further details. Iraqi police said the attack was in Fallujah, a
heavily guarded city 65 kilometers (40 miles) west of Baghdad.
In scattered violence across the country Sunday, two policemen, two truck
drivers, a government security guard, a Sunni preacher and a suspected
insurgent were killed. Also Sunday, five bodies were found in Baghdad and
one in the southeastern city of Amarrah.
In the Kurdish province of Sulaimaniyah, security forces fired warning shots
to disperse hundreds of demonstrators who burned tires and blocked roads to
protest high fuel prices and poor living conditions. Three people were
injured in the protest in the town of Chamchamal.
of Baghdad, leaving three people dead, while 10 people were killed when a
suicide bomber blew himself up among mourners at a funeral in Saddam
Hussein's hometown.
A roadside bombing southwest of Baghdad killed three U.S. soldiers late
Sunday, the U.S. military said. No further details were released. Seven
other people were killed and six bodies were found Sunday.
In Baghdad, sounds of heavy gunfire and explosions rattled the Sadr City
district starting about 1 a.m. Monday and persisted for more than an hour.
Iraqi government television and aides to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada
al-Sadr said U.S. aircraft were attacking buildings in the area.
"Several aerial and ground raids began in central Sadr City," al-Sadr aide
Jaleel al-Nouri said by telephone as detonations could be heard in the
background. "We can see several houses on fire."
The U.S. military said in a statement the fighting started when Iraqi and
U.S. forces raided the area to catch extremists suspected of running torture
cells. The forces took fire as soon as they arrived and one U.S. soldier was
injured, statement said. The U.S. military recently reinforced its troop
strength in the city to try to reclaim the streets from militias, including
al-Sadr's Mahdi Army.
"There's gunfire from all sides," Kadhim al-Mohammedawi, a civil servant who
lives in Sadr City, said by telephone. "We can hear women and children
screaming."
The district became quiet after more than an hour, except for the sounds of
emergency vehicles racing through the streets.
Col. Hassan Chaloub, police chief of Sadr City, said three people including
a woman were killed and 12 injured, including five children and two women.
He said three cars and three houses were destroyed.
He said U.S. jets flew over the city and calls of "God is Great" and
"There's no God but God" blasted from loudspeakers in mosques.
Late Sunday, scattered clashes broke out between Shiite militiamen and Iraqi
soldiers near Hamza Square on the edge of Sadr City, police said. Two
militiamen were killed and five combatants were wounded, including two Iraqi
soldiers, police said.
The attack on the mourners occurred about 8:15 p.m. in Tikrit, Saddam's
hometown, 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of Baghdad. The bomber mingled
among the crowd in a funeral hall and detonated an explosive belt, police
said.
Police Capt. Laith Hamid said the mourners were attending services for the
father of a local council member, who was killed in the attack. Part of the
ceiling collapsed and some people might be trapped under the rubble, Hamid
said, adding that 10 people were killed and 22 injured.
Later, the attacker's vehicle was found and detonated as a safety measure in
case it was rigged as a car bomb, police said.
The bombing was the latest in a series of attacks across northern Iraq in
recent days that have tested the capabilities of Iraq's U.S.-trained
security forces.
Iraqi authorities, however, have been heartened by the performance of the
police in the northern city of Mosul, who stood their ground and drove off
the insurgents after a series of attacks last week.
In November 2004, Mosul's entire 5,500-member police force fled during an
insurgent uprising and the U.S. military had to send American troops and
Kurdish fighters to regain control of the city, Iraq's third largest.
Also Sunday, several U.S. Marines were wounded and a few vehicles were
destroyed by a suicide car bombing in Anbar province, the U.S. military said
without further details. Iraqi police said the attack was in Fallujah, a
heavily guarded city 65 kilometers (40 miles) west of Baghdad.
In scattered violence across the country Sunday, two policemen, two truck
drivers, a government security guard, a Sunni preacher and a suspected
insurgent were killed. Also Sunday, five bodies were found in Baghdad and
one in the southeastern city of Amarrah.
In the Kurdish province of Sulaimaniyah, security forces fired warning shots
to disperse hundreds of demonstrators who burned tires and blocked roads to
protest high fuel prices and poor living conditions. Three people were
injured in the protest in the town of Chamchamal.