New clashes in Baghdad kill 8
2008-04-26 22:26
Baghdad - Fierce overnight clashes between Shiite militiamen and US and Iraqi forces in Baghdad's Sadr City killed at least eight people, including two children, a local medic told AFP on Saturday.
He said a firefight that erupted at around 17:00 on Friday continued until 08:00 on Saturday.
"Those killed include two children and a woman," he said on condition of anonmyity.
Witnesses told AFP the clashes broke out as security forces were putting up concrete barriers in the southern section of the sprawling district - bastion of anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr - in east Baghdad.
American forces began building a concrete wall there last week in a bid to prevent rocket and mortar attacks on the heavily fortified Green Zone, seat of the Iraqi government and the US embassy.
But the construction project has angered local followers of Sadr.
Militiamen from his Mahdi Army and security forces have been clashing since March 25 when Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered a crackdown on militiamen in the southern city of Basra.
The military assault in the port city triggered clashes in other Shiite areas, but they have been particularly fierce in Sadr City where at least 391 people have been killed.
- AFP