Iraqi forces backed by US aircraft battled militants in a Shiite stronghold
of eastern Baghdad early Friday, killing or wounding more than 30 fighters and
capturing an extremist leader who was the target of the raid, Iraqi and US
officials said.
In another operation, Iraqi troops backed by US soldiers arrested a top
regional commander of a Shiite militia near Hillah, a US statement said. The
moves appeared part of a crackdown on sectarian militias blamed for the
escalation in Shiite-Sunni violence that has led to fears of civil war in recent
months.
An Iraqi boy sits with
his two sheep killed in crossfire between insurgents and Iraqi and
coalition soldiers following a raid in the area, Friday, July 7, 2006, in
the Sadr City area of Baghdad, Iraq. Iraqi soldiers clashed with gunmen in
the Shiite district of Baghdad Friday and local officials said as many as
nine people were killed and 34 wounded.
[AP]
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Bombs and a mortar round struck three Sunni mosques in Baghdad and northeast
of the capital, killing at least nine people and wounding seven, authorities
said. The explosions hit the mosques despite a four-hour driving ban in the
capital aimed at preventing such attacks that often target the main weekly
Islamic religious service.
Meanwhile a Sunni cleric was abducted in Baghdad, a powerful religious leader
said in his sermon, denouncing the attack. Ahmed Abdul Ghafour al-Samaraie, the
head of the Sunni Endowment, the state agency responsible for Sunni mosques and
shrines, said he had been informed that Sheik Alaa of the Ibn Taimya mosque had
been kidnapped at a checkpoint.
The US military said the raid in Baghdad's Sadr City slum was launched to
apprehend "an insurgent leader responsible for numerous deaths of Iraqi
citizens." He was arrested after a gunbattle between Iraqi forces and
insurgents, the US said.
There were no casualties among US or Iraqi soldiers, the Americans said.
US officials did not identify the insurgent leader but residents of the
Shiite neighborhood said he was Abu Diraa, a commander in the Mahdi militia of
radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
The US statement said the militant leader was involved "in the transfer of
weapons from Syria into Iraq" in an effort to break away "from his current
insurgent organization." The statement did not mention any US role in the raid,
but residents said they could hear American aircraft providing cover.
In a statement Thursday, the US said Iraqi and US forces also arrested Adnan
al-Unaybi, commander of a Mahdi militia force south of Baghdad. The statement
said he was arrested north of Hillah, about 60 miles south of Baghdad.
An al-Sadr aide, Sheik Abdul-Hadi al-Darraji, denounced the Baghdad raid,
saying 11 civilians were killed and dozens wounded as US jets fired on the area
as people were sleeping on their roofs because of the searing summer
temperatures and electricity shortages.
"This is a big escalation from the American side," he said. "I condemn all
the silence toward such violations and I call for the withdrawal of the American
forces."
There were conflicting casualty figures. Lt. Kadim Abbas Hamza of the Sadr
City police said fighter planes also fired from the air and nine people,
including a woman, were killed and 14 were wounded. He also said eight people
were arrested.
A hospital official said seven people were killed and 34 wounded.
An Iraqi army officer said the Americans had provided them with a list of
names of people to be arrested in Sadr City. Iraqi soldiers led the raid while
the Americans played a support role, but nobody was arrested because of the
clashes, the officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security
reasons.
The early morning raid also came as security forces were searching for a
female Sunni legislator, who was abducted by gunmen in a nearby Shiite area
nearly a week ago. Al-Sadr's aide said his group had condemned the kidnapping
and denied that the cleric's followers or members of the Mahdi army were linked
to it.
US and Iraqi forces also staged a raid in Sadr City in late March, with the
Americans saying 16 suspected insurgents were killed. Police put the number at
22.