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Posted on 08/06/2004 1:22:44 PM PDT by TexKat
BAGHDAD (AFP) - More than 1,200 militiamen loyal to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr surrendered following fierce clashes with US and Iraqi forces in Najaf, the police general directorate said.
"Over 1,200 criminals have surrendered to Iraqi forces," it said in a statement, adding that the holy city of Najaf had been "secured."
It said most of the captured militiamen were criminals who were released from Iraqi prisons by ousted president Saddam Hussein before last year's US-led invasion.
The statement accused Sadr's Mehdi Army of wanting to "destablise the country," and vowed "this operation will continue until this illegal and cruel violence has been quelled."
No one in Sadr's Najaf office was immediately available for comment on the statement.
The US military said Friday that 300 militiamen were killed in Najaf since Thursday's fighting, while the province's coalition-appointed governor Adnan al-Zorfi said the number was as high as 400.
The military said also three US soldiers were killed and 12 wounded.
But Sadr's spokesman Sheikh Ahmed al-Shaibani said only nine militiamen were killed in fighting and 20 wounded.
Fighters loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr run through the street as they carry an RPG, or rocket propelled grenade, and light weapons during clashes with U.S. forces and Iraqi National guards at Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq Friday Aug. 6, 2004. (AP Photo/Mohammed Uraibi)
Members of Iraqi Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada Sadr's Mehdi Army militia. More than 1,200 militiamen loyal to Sadr surrendered following fierce clashes with US and Iraqi forces in Najaf.(AFP/Ahmad al-Rubaye)
dead men running
Fill them jails back up!!
as some predicted, with the Iraqi government taking the lead, the heat has been turned up on the terrorists in iraq. Good way to get the job done and be able to say "we're just assisting the iraqis in defending their country."
They can't be too stupid if they are surrendering.
Excellent description of the vermin.
Someone ran away with the money supply and the chuck wagon??
Great progress. Let's hope this is the beginning of the end of this Sadr crank and his criminal gang.
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