Posted on 01/28/2007 11:06:07 AM PST by cgk
Edited on 01/28/2007 11:44:41 AM PST by Sidebar Moderator. [history]
NAJAF, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. and Iraqi forces killed 250 gunmen in a fierce battle involving U.S. tanks and helicopters on the outskirts of the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf on Sunday, a senior Iraqi police officer said.
The day-long battle was continuing after nightfall, Colonel Ali Nomas told Reuters, as tens of thousands of pilgrims converged on the nearby city of Kerbala for the climax of the Ashura commemorations.
A U.S. helicopter was shot down in the fighting, Iraq security sources said. The U.S. military declined comment. A Reuters reporter saw a helicopter come down trailing smoke.
Shi'ite political sources said the gunmen appeared to be both Sunni Arabs and Shi'ites loyal to a cleric called Ahmed Hassani.
...
The governor of Najaf province said Iraqi troops fought a day-long battle with up to 200 Sunni gunmen, including foreign fighters, holed up in orchards on the northern outskirts of the city, seat of Iraq's most powerful Shi'ite clerics.
Governor Asaad Abu Gilel told Reuters the authorities had uncovered a plot to kill some of the clerics on Monday, to coincide with the climax of Ashura.
"There is a conspiracy to kill the clergy on the 10th day of Muharram," Najaf governor Abu Gilel said, referring to the day of the Muslim calendar on Monday.
A Reuters reporter about 1.5 km (1 mile) from the fighting said he heard intense gunfire and saw U.S. helicopters rocket groves sheltering militants. He saw smoke trailing from one helicopter before it came down in the midst of the fighting.
He was unable to see what had happened to the helicopter, but officers in Iraq's 8th Army Division and policemen said it had crashed and that the two crew members were dead. The U.S. military said it did not comment on operations still taking place.
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2007-01-28T191601Z_01_L2828035_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ.xml&pageNumber=0&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage2
Wow! That's a good days work.
YEP! Signed,.. no DIRECTED by Mrs. SR.
Thanks for the alert....passing it on...
Cleric/Ansar al Sunnah
This was followed by an announcement by a number of non-Salafist insurgent groups of the formation of a 25-member Political Bureau for Iraqi Resistance, consisting of representatives of the Ba’athists, the Iraqi National Alliance, the Armed Forces General Command, Patriotic Communists Against the Occupation, the Association of Muslim Scholars, Grand Ayatullah Ahmad al-Hassani al-Baghdadi, the Nationalist Nasserite Trend, the Islamic Army, al-Rashidin Army, and the 1920 Revolution Brigades. Members of the Political Bureau include Dr Qays Muhammad Nuri, Dr Khudayyir Wahid al-Murshidi, Awni Qalamji, Ahmad Karim, Yusuf Hamdan, Abd al-Razzaq al-Sa’adi, Abd al-Karim Hani, Arshad Zibari, Buthaynah al-Nassiri and Abd al-Jabbar al-Kubaysi. This has been interpreted as a split between Al Qaeda and the Iraqi Salafist groups on the one side and the non-Salafist pro-Saddam Hussein groups on the other. It has also been interpreted to mean that the non-Salafists have refused to recognise the so-called Islamic Emirate of Iraq on the ground that it would formalise the split of Iraq and the creation of a separate State for the Sunnis.
http://www.saag.org/%5Cpapers21%5Cpaper2082.html
I'm wondering if he's related to Hajem the Iraqi parlimentary speaker who's always mouthing off.
Ansar al Sunnah also likes to behead as shown in previous videos.
It's been done... not reported.
Interesting. The article states that the Iraqi National Army are the main forces battling these terrorists on the ground.
He was unable to see what had happened to the helicopter, but officers in Iraq's 8th Army Division and policemen said it had crashed and that the two crew members were dead.
Must have been an Apache....damn....
Thanks.
Yes it is.
Do they always call it "the Shiite holy city of Najaf" to differentiate it from 'the unholy city of Najaf", the Sunni Godless city of Najaf", the secular village of Najaf, and 65 other Najafs in the general area?
Or is it just a pandering term The Press feels compelled to use?
I'm surprised they didn't blame the school on us.
Geez....Malicki has only been there 7 months....
Thanks very much for your assistance. :)
A lot of virgins are gonna be busy today.
Headline:
Najaf wiped Clean. Ethiopians say wipe Triangle Next. Bush listens.
Which means it's probably another 600.
Took the words right out of my mouth.
You're welcome
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