BAGHDAD, Iraq – Families sleeping on rooftops to escape the summer heat were startled early Monday by helicopters and gunfire as U.S. and Iraqi forces raided a Shiite Muslim stronghold and battled a militia headed by militant cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
The raid on the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad killed three people, destroyed three homes and sent families scurrying for cover. One U.S. soldier was injured, the U.S. military said.
The U.S. command said was aimed at “individuals involved in punishment and torture cell activities.”
Iraq’s prime minister sharply criticized the attack. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki a Shiite, said he was “very angered and pained” by the operation, warning that it could undermine his efforts toward national reconciliation.
He apologized to the Iraqi people for the operation and said “this won’t happen again.”
Al-Sadr and his Al Mahdi army are defiant against the U.S. occupation and have increased their power in Sadr City. After the Sadr City attack, President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, met with the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. George Casey Jr., to discuss security operations in Baghdad. Talabani said he told Casey “it is in no one’s interest to have a confrontation” with al-Sadr’s movement.
Abbas Dhahi Salman was sleeping with his family when a blast startled him.
“We felt the shock and sound on the second floor,” he said. “We felt the air cooler fall to the ground, and the second floor was ablaze. We were afraid to go out because we feared getting shot, so we called the police and ambulance, but they said it was a battle zone and they couldn’t come.”
Salman’s mother and two children were injured in the attack. He said he suspected that Iraqi forces were searching for his neighbor, who is a member of the Al Mahdi army.
“For the last 10 days the situation in Sadr City has been tense and worrisome,” Salman said. “We’re starting to see more and more patrols, deployments of troops and more checkpoints.”
An adviser to al-Maliki said the prime minister does not want military raids into the community to jeopardize reconciliation efforts between al-Sadr and the government. The adviser added that al-Maliki was not briefed on the operation beforehand and has informed the military to clear future actions in Sadr City with his office.
More than 30 people were killed or found dead Monday in Iraq, including 10 paramilitary commandos slain when a suicide driver detonated a truck at the regional headquarters of the Shiite-led Interior Ministry police station in Samarra, a mostly Sunni city north of Baghdad.
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