IRAQ: Followers of rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr shot down a US helicopter yesterday in the Iraqi city of Najaf and two were killed by British troops in Basra in clashes that threatened to reignite a Shi'ite uprising.
The fighting in Najaf was the heaviest in the city since a rebellion by Sadr's followers in April and May. The city is home to the holiest shrines in Shi'ite Islam, and most Iraqi Shi'ites react with outrage when clashes erupt near the sacred sites.
The US military said it estimated seven of Sadr's fighters were killed in Najaf, and British forces said they killed two militiamen in Basra after an attack by Sadr's men.
"Coalition forces were attacked with small arms fire and returned fire, killing two enemy fighters," a British military spokeswoman said, adding that no British soldiers were wounded. Guerrillas attacked a US convoy near Najaf with a rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire, killing one American soldier and wounding five, the US military said.
Clashes also broke out in impoverished Shi'ite areas of Baghdad. A spokesman for Sadr in Baghdad said one militiaman was killed in the clashes with US troops. The US military said the crew of the downed helicopter in Najaf were wounded and evacuated. Sadr's aides said the cleric's Mehdi Army militia had shot down the aircraft.
Iraq's health ministry said at least three civilians were killed in the Najaf fighting - including an ambulance driver whose ambulance was hit - and 25 wounded.
An aide to Iraq's most revered Shi'ite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, said Sistani was receiving treatment in Najaf for heart problems and the clashes could affect his health. "There is fear that what is happening in Najaf might affect the medical care he needs," Hamed Khafaf said.
The US military said the fighting began at about 3 a.m. when "a significant number of aggressors" believed to be Mehdi Army militia attacked a police station with machine-guns, rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and small arms.
In the mixed Sunni and Shi'ite town of Mahawil south of Baghdad, guerrillas detonated a car bomb and sprayed gunfire at a police station, killing at least six people and wounding 24. Interior ministry spokesman Sabah Kadhim said three masked gunmen opened fire on the police station in the town, about 75 km south of Baghdad, and fled. A bomb then exploded outside the building. Kadhim said two police officers were also shot dead yesterday in the town of Musayyib, near Mahawil.- (Reuters)
Several loud mortar blasts shook central Baghdad last night and a plume of smoke rose close to the Sheraton and Palestine hotels, a guarded complex that houses many journalists and foreign contractors.
Reuters correspondents based close to the compound heard at least three explosions, followed by automatic gunfire. There were no immediate reports of casualties.