Iraqi police battled Shia fighters in the holy city of Najaf Thursday in the first major clashes between Iraqi security forces and radical cleric Moqtada Sadr's militia since the launch of his uprising against the US-led occupation more than two months ago.
The latest bloodshed claimed the lives of six people, including one police officer, three militiamen and two civilians, and left 29 wounded, including 10 policemen and two children, said Najaf General Hospital's deputy director Hussein Hadi Abdul Khadum.
It climaxed in Sadr's men seizing a police station near the Imam Ali mausoleum.
The untimely outbreak started to unravel a five-day cease-fire in a city revered by the country's Shiite majority as the US-led coalition hoped for calm ahead of the handover of power to Iraqi authorities in less than three weeks time.
The clashes erupted at 2 am (1000 GMT) when an Iraqi police convoy patrolling the edge of the sprawling Shiite cemetery, running alongside the city centre, came under fire, said the US-appointed governor of Najaf, Adnan al-Zorfi.
The battle quickly spread as police and Sadr's army of poor, uneducated men exchanged gunfire around the city, shattering hopes for peace in the pilgrimage city after months of violence.
Zorfi said the Mehdi Army laid siege to the Ghari police station after a night of fighting.
"We have asked them to put an end to the armed disturbances within 24 hours," he said.
Qais Khazaali, a Sadr official, accused the police of igniting the violence and said two Mehdi Army men were killed and several wounded in the unrest.
"The police started it by firing on Mehdi Army posts in the old city" near the Imam Ali Shrine, the Sadr lieutenant said.
Khazaali said Shia dignitaries mediating a cease-fire arrangement told him: "The governor of Najaf is threatening to send American forces to take the old city. But we absolutely reject this."
The cleric accused a police car, with men dressed in black, of opening fire on Sadr's home.
Witness Zakarai Ajim, 45, said Mehdi Army stormed the area around the police station at 6:30 am, with some cops taking flight and others surrendering to the militia. Late Thursday, the Mehdi Army abandoned the police post and looters proceeded to torch the station and steal police cars and furniture, according to an AFP reporter.
Police chief Ghaleb al-Jazariy said 60 policemen were inside the station when Sadr's men attacked, but he did not know what happened to him.
Comments
Comments are closed.