Posted on 04/07/2004 3:27:46 PM PDT by Eala
Five Iranian bassijis and three Iraqis were killed when foreign troops fired on their vehicle near a checkpoint near the Shi'ite town of Kerbala, police and hospital officials said on Wednesday.
Police said the incident happened late on Tuesday when the vehicle in which the victims were travelling ran a checkpoint in Kerbala, 110 km (68 miles) south of Baghdad.
Fighting has raged since Sunday in Shi'ite areas of Iraq between foreign troops and militiamen loyal to radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
Thousands of Iranians are in Iraq ahead of the Shi'ite Muslim holy day of Arbain this month when millions of pilgrims are expected to converge on Kerbala.
(As noted here, the Bassiji "are simply paid government hooligans in civilian clothing. By all accounts the Bassiji are responsible for numerous murders and disappearances since the start of the Islamic Republic."
C'mon, millions? Where do they all stay, the Y?
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