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US: Leave Najaf, or die
10/08/2004 20:58 - (SA)
Najaf - US forces adopted a new tactic on Tuesday in their sixth day of battles in this holy Shiite city, sending patrols armed with speakers into the streets, demanding militants loyal to cleric Moqtada Sadr drop their arms and leave Najaf immediately or face death.
The call, broadcast in Arabic from US vehicles, came as US helicopter gunships pummelled a multi-storied building 400m from the gold-domed Imam Ali Shrine with rockets, missiles and 30mm cannons, marking one of the closest strikes yet to what is one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam.
Plumes of thick black smoke rose from the building, which serves as a hotel for visitors to the shrine. Witnesses said insurgents were firing from inside it when US forces returned fire.
"We've pretty much just been patrolling and flying helicopters all over the place, and when we see something bad, we blow it up," said David Holahan.
Nearby, Bradley fighting vehicles swept through a massive cemetery to flush out small pockets of militants hiding in elaborate concrete tombs. Choppers provided support, firing rockets from above, witnesses said.
Sporadic explosions could be heard elsewhere in the city, and Holahan said militants from Sadr's Mahdi army militia attacked three police stations, two with small arms fire, one with eight mortar rounds.
Despite the violence, marines said the clashes were much lighter than in recent days - though few expected it to stay that way. "I think it's the quiet before the storm," Holahan said.
Parts of Najaf were deserted, but residents ventured out into the streets, driving small cars nervously along palm-lined roads as huge eight-wheeled marine vehicles moved through town on "show of force" patrols.
The fighting, which began on Thursday, has plagued other Shiite communities across Iraq.
The violence has jeopardized Iraq's crucial oil industry. Oil authorities stopped pumping oil on Monday from the main southern oil fields to the southern port of Basra due to the threat of attacks from Sadr militants. Iraq's other export line in the north to Turkey is already out of operation.
The interim government has also been fighting a largely Sunni insurgency, characterised by a campaign of attacks, bombings and shootings that have plagued Iraq since shortly after the US invaded, toppling Saddam Hussein.
Jordan's official Petra news agency reported on Tuesday that Jordanian businessman Jamal Sadeq al-Salaymeh was taken hostage in Baghdad on Monday by kidnappers demanding $250 000 in ransom.
A Lebanese businessman Antoine Antoun was freed after about a week in captivity in Iraq, his father Robert said.
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