Posted on 08/21/2004 8:37:21 PM PDT by Stoat
U.S. aircraft launched a fresh assault on Shi'ite rebels in the embattled Iraqi city of Najaf early Sunday after talks on transferring control of the mosque at the center of a two-week siege ran into trouble.
A U.S. military AC-130 gunship unleashed rapid cannon and howitzer fire on positions held by rebels loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, a Reuters witness said.
The attack lit the area with white flashes and was followed by a blast. Smoke drifted over the old city near rebel positions, and flashes were seen on the outskirts of the city. Tracer fire and orange flashes went skyward in reply.
The violence followed a day of relative calm while negotiators tried to end a two-week Shi'ite Muslim uprising led by Sadr's forces that has helped drive world oil prices to record highs.
Militiamen had earlier brandished weapons around the Imam Ali mosque, dampening hopes that an offer by Sadr to hand the shrine over to the clerical establishment would end the siege, the biggest challenge yet faced by Iraq's interim government.
"Bring those Americans here to fight hand to hand," one of Sadr's followers said before the latest outbreak of fighting.
"They are cowards. They stay thousands of feet away in their airplanes. They are scared, they know we will slaughter them," he said, biting his finger for emphasis.
In nearby Kufa, where Sadr has in the past led prayers at the mosque, witnesses said U.S. forces had also clashed with militiamen Saturday.
TALKS HIT A SNAG
A top Sadr aide said talks between the fiery cleric's representatives and Iraq's top Shi'ite religious authorities were continuing with a view to handing the shrine over to the control of Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
Sistani, the most influential cleric in the majority Shi'ite country, is in London recovering from surgery.
But the aide, Ali Smeisim, said the talks had hit a snag over a request by Sadr's side that Sistani send a delegation to take an inventory of precious items in the mosque -- thought to include jewelry, relics and carpets -- to head off any claim that Sadr's men had stolen anything from the shrine.
The Imam Ali mosque is the holiest Shi'ite shrine in Iraq.
"We were told by people in Sayyed Sistani's office that they cannot form the committee in the current circumstances. We told them that Sayyed Sistani has representatives in Najaf ... and we believe a committee can be formed," Smeisim told reporters.
Sadr's aides had earlier said that his militia would continue to guard the mosque after any handover, precisely the outcome that the two-month-old government wants to prevent.
A Sistani spokesman in London told Al Arabiya television "no specific time has been set" for a handover of the mosque's keys.
"TRAITORS"
In the shrine, a teen-ager hacked with a pick at a block of ice to help cool Sadr's fighters, who yelled slogans vilifying Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, who has called on them to lay down their weapons and leave.
"We are winning, we will win over Iyad Allawi and the traitors collaborating with the Americans," they chanted.
Some held banners reading: "Where is the bullet that will grant me martyrdom?"
Sadr's uprising has fueled fears of disruption to Iraqi oil production and has helped push crude prices to new highs.
Saboteurs detonated an explosive near an oil pumping station in south Iraq Saturday but caused little damage, witnesses said.
The U.S. military said a rocket-propelled grenade fired at a U.S. military vehicle in southern Baghdad Saturday killed one soldier, and a roadside bomb near Samarra Friday killed two.
The attacks brought to 711 the number of U.S. troops killed in action in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion last year.
One Polish soldier was killed Saturday when a car bomb exploded beside a convoy near the town of Hilla, taking the number of Polish deaths in Iraq to 14 since Poland took charge of the multinational force in south-central Iraq last September.
In Paris, the French foreign ministry said two French journalists, George Malbrunot of Le Figaro and Christian Chesnot of Radio France International, were missing in Iraq and had not been heard from since Thursday.
The Italian government said freelance Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni, who had been working in Najaf had been missing since Thursday and his driver had reportedly been killed.
(Additional reporting by Khaled Farhan in Najaf and Walid Ibrahim in Baghdad)
Rack ittttt
Is breaking on wires right now I watching Raider game I haven't hear anything on FOx news wire
What's the avg. amount of dudes who fly on a mission in one of those?
"What's the avg. amount of dudes who fly on a mission in one of those?"
CNN is not my usual source for anything definitive about much of anything, but this article gives a cursory overview of the aircraft:
http://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/central/10/16/ret.ac130.profile/
"Backing up the heavy armaments are sophisticated sensor, radar and navigation systems operated by a crew of up to 14. "
•
ping
Just curious - thanks!
God bless them...may they rest in peace.
One Polish soldier was killed Saturday when a car bomb exploded beside a convoy near the town of Hilla, taking the number of Polish deaths in Iraq to 14 since Poland took charge of the multinational force in south-central Iraq last September.
God bless the Poles...they are good allies and friends.
In Paris, the French foreign ministry said two French journalists, George Malbrunot of Le Figaro and Christian Chesnot of Radio France International, were missing in Iraq and had not been heard from since Thursday.
Pity.
You're welcome....one of our military Freepers can likely direct you to a much more complete and authoritative site on the AC-130 than CNN.
:-)
I cannot fathom an artillery gun on an airplane!!
Puff/Snoopy with the chain guns was impressive - now with the addition of some heavier calibers - WOW!!!!
"I cannot fathom an artillery gun on an airplane!!
Puff/Snoopy with the chain guns was impressive - now with the addition of some heavier calibers - WOW!!!!"
Agreed...I'm glad that we're on the right side of history :-)
I heard that during the days of the grand battleships, when a ship was offshore shelling the land, recoil was a big problem. I understand that when the ship lay paralell to the shore and would let loose simultaneously with all guns on the shore side, the recoil was such that they had to fire the seaside guns as well just to counteract the blast recoil (probably with "blanks") otherwise the blast would roll the ship so much that it would take forever to stabilize and range/aim for the next salvo.
Makes you wonder what it's like for the pilot, flying a plane with a big cannon going off on one side. I would imagine, however, that the cannon is on some sort of recoil-absorbing carriage, the likes of which wasn't available in WW2 battleship days.
Grasshopper........one should be very, VERY careful of that for which one wishes.
Stupid s**t. No wonder they don't stand a chance.
Kool !
Soon, I will sleep.
God willing, tomorrow I will awake in a world with fewer bad guys.
Circa 1942, B-25G Medium Bomber with 75MM cannon and four .50 cal machineguns in nose.
Well, from all of the previous bombings...it was always jets that came from above...so when this turboprop noise was heard...they all sat there and laughed, right before they died.
As for their comment: "Bring those Americans here to fight hand to hand," one of Sadr's followers said before the latest outbreak of fighting....if your mindset is from the 3rd century, there isn't much to fight for. These dimwits haven't learned nothing in at least 1700 years. But the positive news...they are right there at the temple and have a Imam to pray over them as they die. Can't ask for anything better before you run off with 74 virgins (not).
"What kind of moron would be running around at night when the drone of circling turboprops tells them an AC-130 is in the neighborhood?"
The same sort of moron who sends his children to a school that teaches him nothing but the Koran and how the greatest thing he could possibly do with his life is to die in the name of Allah. This isn't a matter of these losers merely not running on all cylinders....they don't even have any wheels on the car.
We are seeing the death throes of what once, a thousand years ago, could have been called a civilization.
I believe the British Mosquito had a version with a 75mm too.
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