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Intense shelling in Najaf
19/08/2004 21:21 - (SA)
Najaf - Intense shelling pounded the Old City of Najaf late on Thursday, not far from the revered Imam Ali shrine where Shiite militiamen are locked in a stand-off with US-led Iraqi troops, an AFP correspondent said.
US warplanes screeched overhead as a fire raged in the historic city centre and thick black smoke spewed into the sky not far from the shrine, the headquarters of cleric Moqtada Sadr's mehdi army fighters.
The deafening thud of heavy artillery fire could be heard from the direction of the city's vast cemetery starting at about 22:50 (18:50 GMT).
An AFP correspondent said it was the heaviest shelling in the Old City of the more than two-week-old standoff between the Mehdi Army and US-led forces.
A senior Iraqi government official told AFP the shelling was part of a military strategy aimed to shock the mehdi militia.
"It is a shocking strategy. The next few days are crucial as a military operation could be launched," the official said on condition of anonymity.
"In fact the operation has been on in a minor way in the last few days. We have no choice but to finish this battle soon."
Earlier on Thursday, Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi issued a "final call" for the militiamen to disarm and said he was still prepared to accept a personal document from Sadr on a truce.
"We will categorically not allow armed militias. "This is the final call to them to disarm, vacate the holy shrine and engage in political work," Allawi told a news conference.
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