More bloodshed in Iraq

2006-10-20 14:25

Samarra, Iraq - A mortar barrage on the strife-torn town of Balad, north of Baghdad, has killed nine people and wounded 12 others, Iraqi police reported on Friday.

The fire crashed into a residential neighbourhood as people were sitting down for their evening meal on Thursday in this mainly Shi'ite city in a Sunni heartland where sectarian violence has killed dozens in the past few days.

It was only the latest episode in a tit-for-tat series of revenge killings that erupted there on October 12, with the killing of a Sunni insurgent leader.

There have been differing accounts on the severity of the clashes, with US forces acknowledging the death of 14 Shi'ites and 28 Sunnis in the first two days of clashes before Iraqi troops pacified the area.

"We are seeing local leaders take control of the situation," US military spokesperson Major General William Caldwell said on Thursday. "They are the ones who brought the situation under control."

There was also a meeting on Wednesday of leaders from Salaheddin province, including religious figures and tribal sheikhs, to pledge inter-sectarian brotherhood.

"We're all brothers-in-arms," said Balad Mayor Amer Abdul, according to a US military account of the meeting. "We're all Iraqis and Arabs."

Iraqis on the scene and local police, however, have described a much more chaotic situation.

They say Shi'ite militias roamed the area for days afterwards and killed dozens of Sunnis, with a body count well over 60.

- AFP