Backed by tanks and helicopters, US forces clashed with Shite fighters loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr early Wednesday in the southern holy city of Karbala, witnesses said. Much of the fighting took place near a main mosque. Up to 25 Iraqi fighters were killed, occupation officials said.
The fighting lasted for several hours in the Iskan and Jamiya areas of the city.
American forces killed 20 to 25 "enemy" fighters in the Karbala battles, while seven occupation soldiers were wounded, an occupation official said on condition of anonymity. Four of the soldiers returned to duty, the official added.
There was heavy fighting around the Mukhaiyam mosque, which has served as a base for al-Sadr loyalists, The AP reported. Half of the Mukhaiyam mosque, which had served as a base for al-Sadr followers, was destroyed and seven hotels were on fire after tanks opened fire and jets bombed the area. Most of the shops in Tal al-Zeinabiya, a central market, and three ambulances were also destroyed, according to reports.
US soldiers and al-Sadr's followers also fought overnight on the outskirts of two other southern Iraqi cities, Kufa and Najaf. Residents heard large explosions. One Iraqi was killed and four were injured in Kufa, and four Iraqis were wounded in Najaf, hospital officials said.
On Tuesday, Iraqi leaders in Najaf, said al-Sadr would end his standoff with US soldiers if the US-led occupation postpones its legal case against him, withdraws troops from Najaf and sets up an Iraqi force to patrol the city.
In the meantime, four Filipino workers were killed in a mortar attack on a US military base north of Baghdad, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said Wednesday.
She said the victims were employed at Camp Anaconda near
Balad, which came under mortar attack on Tuesday.
"It was a stroke of bad luck that they were exposed and
unprotected at the time of the attack," Arroyo said in a
statement.
There are 1,300 Filipinos working inside Camp Anaconda,
she added.
Elsewhere, fighters fired on a car carrying Iraqi security forces north of Baghdad on Wednesday, killing one
man and seriously injuring his brother, Iraqi authorities
said.
Two other security officials were also injured.
The members of the US-backed Iraqi Civil Defense Corps
were traveling on a highway north of the city of Baqouba
when they were attacked, ICDC officials in Baqouba said.
The attackers fled. (Albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
