NAJAF, Iraq – U.S. helicopter gunships and fighter jets pounded Shiite Muslim insurgents hiding in a sprawling cemetery Friday in the most intense fighting in this holy city since the fall of Saddam Hussein. The U.S. military said 300 militants were killed in the past two days.
The clashes between coalition forces and militant Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army flared in Shiite communities across the country, killing dozens of other Iraqis, according to Iraqi officials and the militants.
The fighting, which began early Thursday, threatened to re-ignite the bloody, two-month Shiite insurrection that broke out in April – and the heavy U.S. response appeared designed to quash militia activity quickly and prevent a repeat.
Al-Sadr on Friday blamed all the violence in Iraq on the United States, which he called “our enemy and the enemy of the people,” in a sermon read on his behalf at the Kufa Mosque near Najaf.
A renewed Shiite uprising would cause severe problems for Iraq’s fledgling interim government as it tries to gain popular support and for coalition forces that are already struggling against Sunni militants.
The heavy battles came as the most powerful Shiite cleric in Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani, arrived in Britain to receive medical treatment for what an aide called “a health crisis” involving his heart.
The 73-year-old ayatollah, who holds enormous influence among Iraq’s Shiite majority, has played a largely moderating role, urging Shiites not to resort to anti-U.S. violence, and during al-Sadr’s first uprising he played a role in trying to calm the crisis.
Al-Sadr aides called for a return to the truces that have kept relative calm for the past two months, and other Shiite leaders were trying to restore a cease-fire.
The Iraqi government said it was determined to crush all militias in the country, including the Mahdi Army, and Najaf Gov. Adnan al-Zurufi gave the insurgents 24 hours to leave the city.
The Mahdi Army has proved difficult to put down in the past. It persisted despite heavy casualties during its first uprising, and U.S. commanders – hesitant to carry out a full-fledged assault in the holiest Shiite city – were forced to back down from vows to uproot the militia.
U.S. military deaths
The latest identifications reported by the military of U.S. personnel killed in Iraq:
Marine Cpl. Dean Pratt, 22, Stevensville, Mont.; died Monday in an attack in Anbar province; assigned to 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Nice, 19, Nicoma Park, Okla., died Wednesday in an attack in Anbar province; assigned to 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, Calif.
Army Spc. Donald McCune, 20, Yplsilanti, Mich.; died Thursday in Landstuhl, Germany, of injuries sustained when an explosive detonated near his patrol Wednesday; assigned to the National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 161st Infantry Regiment, 81st Brigade Combat Team, Moses Lake.
U.S. military deaths
Latest identifications reported by the military of U.S. personnel killed in Iraq:
Marine Cpl. Dean Pratt, 22, Stevensville, Mont.; died Monday in an attack in Anbar province; assigned to 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
Marine Gunnery Sgt. Elia Fontecchio, 30, Milford, Mass., died Wednesday in an attack in Anbar province; assigned to 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, Calif.
Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Nice, 19, Nicoma Park, Okla., died Wednesday in an attack in Anbar province; assigned to 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms.
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