Bloody clashes in Najaf

2004-05-21 20:54

Najaf, Iraq - One person was killed and 22 wounded in heavy clashes on Friday between US-led coalition troops and the militia of radical Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr in the holy city of Najaf, hospital sources said.

Explosions, gunfire and artillery echoed through the city 160km south of Baghdad, as thick black smoke billowed from the downtown 1920 Revolution Square, the police headquarters and the city's vast cemetery.

"One person was killed and 22 injured in today's fighting," Hussein Hadi, administrative assistant at the Hakim hospital, told AFP.

This brought the toll to a total of two killed and 28 injured since overnight clashes broke out in the same area, less than 2km from the sacred Imam Ali mausoleum in the city centre.

The fighting was unabated late afternoon as black smoke was seen rising from an area further north of the square, not far from the provincial government building where the coalition-appointed governor, Adnan al-Zorfi, resides in a fortress-like compound protected by US troops and tanks.

Officials at Hakim hospital said the smoke was from tires burning in the middle of the road.

Veiled black-clad men from Sadr's Mehdi Army were seen fanning out through the cemetery, believed to be one of the largest in the world.

Sadr, who is wanted by the coalition in connection with last year's murder of a rival Shiite cleric, still managed to deliver his weekly sermon at Kufa mosque near Najaf, telling his supporters to continue the fight even if he is arrested or killed.

Automatic gunfire and shelling were heard during the sermon and a Sadr aide said shells fell within the perimeter of the mosque after the cleric left.

Sheikh Mohammed al-Karawi also said militiamen clashed with US troops at the entrance to Kufa on the banks of the Euphrates before the midday prayers.

Friday's violence in Najaf erupted at 11:30 as mortar rounds and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) rumbled through the city, appearing to bring the fight closer to Najaf's centre.

Bullets whizzed in the alleyways around the Imam Ali mausoleum as militiamen armed with assault rifles and RPG launchers were deployed in force on the deserted streets.

Shops were shuttered and only the brave ventured to the mosque at the shrine to attend prayers on the Muslim holy day.

Sheikh Saddredine al-Kubbanji, a moderate Shiite cleric who usually delivers the Friday sermon, was absent.

An injured militiamen was carried into the shrine and was seen emerging shortly after with a bandaged leg. He was then put in a civilian vehicle and whisked away.

Guards at the mosque were seen mopping his blood off the marble floor.

In the overnight fighting near the cemetery, one civilian was killed and six others wounded, according to a senior hospital source.

- AFP