Posted on 02/26/2006 10:48:27 PM PST by BlackVeil
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Violence killed at least 29 people Sunday, including three American soldiers, and mortar fire rumbled through the heart of Baghdad after sundown despite stringent security measures imposed after an explosion of sectarian violence.
A ban on driving in Baghdad and its suburbs helped prevent major attacks during daylight Sunday, but after nightfall explosions thundered through the city as mortar shells slammed into a Shiite quarter in southwestern Baghdad, killing 16 people and wounding 53, police said.
Mortar fire also hit a Shiite area on the capital's east side, killing three people and injuring six, police reported.
Nevertheless, officials announced they would let vehicles back on the streets at 6 a.m. Monday — in part because shops were running out of food and other basics. Gasoline stations were closed, and people were unable to go to work Sunday, a work day in this Muslim country.
The vehicle ban, which followed a curfew that kept everyone in the Baghdad region inside for two days, was part of emergency measures imposed after Wednesday's bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra triggered a wave of reprisal attacks on Sunni mosques and clerics, pushing Iraq to the brink of civil war.
With the relaxation of emergency measures, officials said that Monday would present a major test of whether the worst of the crisis had passed. As dawn approached, the roar of U.S. jet aircraft could be heard patrolling the skies over this tense city.
... ___
Associated Press writers Alexandra Zavis, Bassem Mroue, Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Jalal Mudhar in Baghdad, Ali al-Fatlawi in Hillah and Hana Abdellah in Baqouba contributed to this report.
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Our Iraqi colleaguess are reporting that things appear to be pretty normal on the streets but that it is being advised to avoid the Sadr City area as a precaution.
All seems OK at the moment.
Every time I see this media Drama Queen cr@p, I want to get in these reporters' faces.
It's a bunch of exaggeration and they know it.
A number of the mortor battles yesterday were between Sadr forces and Sunni forces.
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