Fierce fighting resumes in Najaf

NAJAF, Iraq – A day after peace talks collapsed, U.S. tanks and troops rolled back into the center of Najaf on Sunday and fought with militia led by Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Two American soldiers were killed and a wall about 30 yards from the sacred Imam Ali shrine was damaged.

Fighting picked up essentially where it left off before the three-day cease-fire in the vast cemetery and in the Old City. U.S. troops moved to tighten a cordon they set up last week to rein in al-Sadr’s fighters.

“The Iraqi government has asked us to squeeze them,” said Maj. David Holahan, executive officer of the 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment in Najaf.

One protester was reportedly killed outside the shrine by an explosion Sunday afternoon that broke a hole in a wall near the mosque, witnesses said. Al-Sadr supporters blamed the attack on U.S. tanks firing from the cemetery. Military officials said it was unlikely that they could have caused the damage.

One U.S. soldier was killed in the fighting.

On the streets of Najaf, citizens braced for renewed fighting. Mortar fire and explosions resounded through the day and night.

The Najaf police chief ordered all journalists to leave the city, saying authorities could not guarantee their safety. When some refused to leave, police officers threatened to arrest them.

Later Sunday, Iraqi government spokesman George Sada said he contacted Interior Minister Falah Hassan al-Naqib, who informed him that police will be “taking it easy on the journalists.”

At a camp just north of Najaf, U.S. military planners met with Iraqi counterparts, including a general in the new Iraqi Army, to discuss ways to give Iraqi security forces a more prominent role in future operations.

Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi told U.S. officials Saturday night that he wanted Iraqi forces to take the lead role, particularly on sensitive missions, such as attempting to remove al-Sadr’s militia from the shrine.

U.S. officials are waiting for as many as 3,500 Iraqi troops to join them in Najaf, a logistical challenge that could take a week or more to complete.

“I think they’re sending the entire army,” said Lt. Col. Myles Miyamasu, commander of the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment.

As a result, U.S. officials delayed a major offensive they had planned for Saturday night.

In more of the violence plaguing the country, insurgents fired a mortar barrage apparently targeting Baghdad’s Green Zone district where the National Conference – which gathered 1,300 religious, tribal and political leaders from across Iraq – was taking place but instead hit a commuter bus station, killing two people and wounding 17 others, according to the Health Ministry.

Meanwhile, National Conference organizers said a group of delegates would travel to Najaf, perhaps as early as today, to try to persuade al-Sadr and his militia to withdraw from the shrine and lay down their weapons.

Also in Baghdad, a roadside bomb killed a U.S. soldier hours before the conference began. At least 931 U.S. servicemembers have died in Iraq since March 2003.

In Fallujah, neighborhoods Sunday afternoon, killing five civilians and wounding six others, said, Dr. Adil Khamis, of Fallujah General Hospital.

Associated Press

U.S. soldiers secure a building in Najaf, Iraq, on Sunday, near the city’s vast cemetery and ancient Imam Ali mosque.

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