Posted on 04/30/2008 6:33:40 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Iraqis cover dead bodies with blankets in the ruins of a destroyed house by an alleged US air strike on Baghdad's Sadr City. At least 925 people have been killed in clashes between militiamen and security forces in Baghdad's Sadr City that began on March 25.
BAGHDAD (AFP) - Clashes between Shiite militiamen and security forces have killed more than 900 people in Baghdad's Sadr City, an Iraqi official said on Wednesday, as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed to keep up the offensive.
The latest death toll from the Sadr City fighting that erupted late last month is set to make April the deadliest month this year, denting US and Iraqi government claims of improved security.
"There were 925 martyrs in Sadr City and 2,605 others have been wounded," Tehseen Sheikhly, spokesman for the government's Baghdad security plan, told reporters.
Fierce clashes between US and Iraqi forces and Shiite militiamen, mostly from the Mahdi Army of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, broke out after Maliki ordered a crackdown on militias in the main southern city of Basra on March 25.
The crackdown triggered an eruption of violence across Shiite areas of Iraq, particularly Sadr City, Baghdad's most populous Shiite district and a bastion of the Mahdi Army.
On Wednesday, fresh clashes left another 13 militants killed, the American military said.
In one firefight, seven militants were killed after US soldiers were targeted by mortar fire in the southern sector of Sadr City, military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Steven Stover told AFP.
It was not immediately clear whether the deaths of 13 militants were included in the overall toll given by Sheikhly.
The clashes have also inflicted a heavy toll on US forces. At least 21 soldiers have been killed in Baghdad in April, a significant number of them in and around Sadr City.
The US military has in April lost at least 47 soldiers across Iraq, making it the deadliest month since last September when 65 troops were killed, according to an AFP tally based on independent website www.icasualties.org.
Iraqi casualty figures for April from government ministries were not expected before Thursday but in March at least 1,082 people were killed, according to the figures.
Those losses, contrasting with the 721 recorded in February, confirmed a resurgence in bloodshed from the falling figures through the second half of last year.
The US military has vowed to press its fight against the "criminals" in Sadr City in the face of persistent rocket and mortar fire against the heavily-fortified Green Zone that houses the Iraqi government and US embassy.
On Wednesday, Maliki accused the militiamen of using civilians as "human shields" while fighting the security forces.
"Criminals and lawless gangs are using human shields in Sadr City ... They are following the steps of the Baathist regime," Maliki told a press conference.
"They are trying to gain sympathy but they are using the lies and the values of the former regime" of executed dictator Saddam Hussein.
The US military says that gunmen have been firing at troops from rooftops, alleways and houses resulting in firefights in which civilians are often killed.
Maliki vowed to disband the Mahdi Army as well as Sunni insurgent groups, particularly Al-Qaeda.
"We will not allow scavengers in Iraq. The suffering will not be long in Sadr City. We will save our brothers," he said.
The premier accused the militias of forcing Sadr City residents to stay at home out of fear. "I do not know how those people use the (Shiite religious) names we respect like Mahdi and Sadr," he said.
Maliki was alluding to Moqtada's father Grand Ayatollah Mohamed Sadeq al-Sadr, a revered Shiite spiritual leader before his assassination, as well as Imam al-Mahdi, a central figure in the faith.
Iraq Coalition Casualty Count
Thats the way I take it to. Looks like Mookie’s supporters are taking it in the shorts.
I caught that too. Sounds very weird. My guess would be that the Government is saying that they don’t want any Iraqis dying regardless of which side they are on.
Karzai in Afghanistan made a similar statement last year.
I'll be offline for the next few days. I'm going to be hanging out with a few Texas FReepers at the annual Texas Cowboy Memorial Shoot in memory of a very good FRiend. We'll be out in the sticks away from (gasp!) internet and cable.
Can't wait to see the stars at night and hear the quiet (except when we are shooting stuff) out there. We leave tomorrow at around mid-day, but I'll post anything I hear from Baggy-ville when I get back in a few days.
the '2,605 others' must have been the civilians the '925 martyrs' were hiding behind.
Nice to know 925 martyrs achieved their ambition!
I'll verify it, though
.......at the Four Seasons.
Ahhh...still in Iran.
I thought he had been asked to leave.
Thank you for the info, Ernest!
Yep...sad, huh? lol
I hope we get all of 'em soon.
Well there is no going back at this point. Somehow the Persian influences must be rooted out. How. I don’t know other then the continued good HUMIT that will flow in allowing the Iraqi and US forces to make good decisions as to where to find them.
This is a French news agency, Agency Press Francais. They are notorious for being anti-American, the French equivalent of the BBC in England.
Our guys finally got serious the other day. A ground patrol was ambushed from a whole series of buildings. Our planes leveled the place. No more problems.
Now, that’s the kind of urban renewal I like to read about.
The Iraqi police lost about 76 men so far and had more wounded, plus some soldiers killed. They led the way into Sadr City, and into Basra. A salute to them.
Baghdad clashes 'leave 400 dead'
**********************
More than 400 people have been killed in fighting over the last month between Shia militias and US and Iraqi forces, hospital officials in Baghdad say. The fighting has been concentrated in the capital's eastern district of Sadr City, a stronghold of the Mehdi Army militia of the cleric, Moqtada Sadr. Five US soldiers have been killed in fighting in Baghdad since Tuesday. April has been the most lethal month for US troops in Iraq, with 49 deaths, since September, when 65 soldiers died. The US military said two soldiers were killed on Wednesday afternoon in southern Baghdad when a bomb exploded near their patrol. A third was killed by a roadside bombing overnight in the north. Two US soldiers were killed in the north-west of the city on Tuesday evening in separate attacks. The first died when he came under small-arms fire, while the other was killed by a roadside bomb. Hospitals 'struggling' The large number of casualties came after US and Iraqi forces launched an offensive in March to disarm militias in Baghdad and the southern city of Basra. The clashes in the capital flared up again on Sunday after militia members attacked coalition positions during a sandstorm.
The US military said at least 28 militants were killed during battles in the Sadr City area of the capital on Tuesday, while four US soldiers were killed by rocket and mortar fire in the east of the capital on Monday. Doctors said more than 50 civilians were injured in the fighting on Tuesday. The two main hospitals in Sadr City are struggling to cope with the recent influx of casualties, officials at the Imam Ali and the Sadr General hospitals have said. More than 400 people have died and almost 2,500 others have been injured since the end of March, they added. Staff at the hospitals are worried they are running out of clean water and do not have enough severe trauma specialists to treat all those who need help. An Iraqi government spokesman, Tahsin al-Sheikhli, later said as many as 925 people had died in the Sadr City fighting, but he gave no timeframe or further details about how the figure was reached. An independent website, icasualties.org, estimates that 4,058 US soldiers, and 310 soldiers from other nations, have been killed in Iraq since the 2003 invasion. Another website run by academics and peace activists, iraqbodycount.net, estimates up to 90,782 Iraqi civilians have been killed in the same period. Government defiant Later, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki vowed not to ease the military offensive until all militias, both Sunni and Shia, were crushed. Speaking at a news conference in Baghdad, he said the militias were no better then al-Qaeda because they brought instability and destruction to Iraq.
Last week Moqtada Sadr told his supporters that while they should continue "resisting" what he called the US "occupation", they should not fight Iraqis. He also rejected the government's demands. The BBC's Clive Myrie in Baghdad says this is the first time the prime minister, himself a Shia, has tried to crush the Shia militias. Intense pressure from the Sunni and Kurdish members of his government, and behind the scenes from the US government, has helped force his hand, our correspondent says. In the eyes of some, Mr Maliki is finally being seen as a leader of all Iraqis, not just the Shia majority, he adds. |
That photo probably doesn’t show the results of a US airstrike. There’s too much of the building left standing.
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We will use force until we reach the end and get rid of the weapons and gangs who are carrying weapons 